What Matters: Matilda

What matters? Telekinesis matters, great nostalgia matters, and Miss. Honey matters. In this edition of What Matters, I'm going to be reflecting (not reviewing) Matilda (1996) which is an extremely important movie to me and was one of the earliest films that sparked my deep passion for film and the cinema. Matilda, based off the book of the same title by Roald Dahl is the story of a young girl who discovers she has telekenisis and uses her intelligence and great friendship with her elementary school teacher Ms. Honey to escape her abusive parents and finally find and receive the family she truly deserves. The first time I ever saw Matilda was when I was probably seven or eight years old. Looking back on it as a whole, the movie probably is not the most appropriate film for a child. In fact, Matilda really isn't a kids movie at all. It's marketed for children, but it has a far more advanced story that has some unsettling elements to it. In short, Matilda was the first time I ever sat down at a movie and said: huh, that was a great film. It's engrossing and it was the first moment where I ever actually looked to see if a movie was worthwhile in quality. Because of the complex that all kids "love" whatever stimulates them, most people didn't believe me when I was talking about this great film about a girl who finds her true mother amidst a darkened, black, gaping hole of a world. Let's talk about Miss. Honey...I love her. Rarely will I ever watch a film and find a character that I would like to know in person. Only a few movies have ever done that for me and Matilda is one of them. Miss. Honey is one of the most heartfelt performances ever given in film. It sounds crazy because Matilda is not best picture material, but I truly believe that this is Danny DeVito and Rita Pearlman's best role too. Matilda also inspired me a lot because I watched it multiple times and it was (at least for Me) a story that I could escape to. Whenever I felt worn out, stressed, or just needed to relax Matilda was always right there on On Demand. I loved how powerful it is and how it drowned the viewer in this world. It was my story, and it felt as if I owned it and could return to it, relate to characters, and come to it whenever I needed it. Matilda is an underrated masterpiece of a film that will not only stimulate kids and whenever I watch it I feel the story come back to me.