Film Review

Wonka (2023) —a chocolate box of scrumdiddlyumptious delights

With dreams of opening a sweet shop, a young Willy Wonka discovers the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers.

Roald Dahl’s children’s stories have always had some bite to them. The BFG isn’t merely a tale of frobscottle and whizzpopping, there’s man-eating giants. If you’ve seen Wes Anderson’s recent Henry Sugar shorts, you’ll be well-acquainted with this underlying darkness — “The Ratcatcher” might even have too much bite. However, in his most popular works, such as The Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dahl strikes a masterful balance. He employs a touch of grim reality as a springboard for grand fantasy, a technique that amplifies the impact of the fun elements.

Wonka pays homage to Dahl’s style with its villainous Mrs Scrubbitt (Olivia Colman) and Bleacher (Tom Davis), and the occasional candy corruption, but it never veers into mean-spiritedness or cruelty. Instead, it’s infused with a bubbly optimism that overflows the narrative. Does this approach border on cloying sweetness, or is it a…