“What if we are here for a reason? What if we are part of something truly divine?” asks main character Meg Murry’s quantum scientist dad at the start of the first trailer for Ava DuVernay’s upcoming science-fantasy Disney epic, A Wrinkle in Time. In poking around that existential question, Dr. Murry manages to get himself lost in some kind of Drake music video slash Northern Lights situation, as Oprah Winfrey’s immortal witch, Mrs. Which, explains to Meg: “He’s trapped by a darkness that’s actively spreading throughout the universe, and the only one who can stop it is you”.
Meg, played by Storm Reid (12 Years a Slave; Sleight), enlists the help of Mrs. Which, Mindy Kaling’s Mrs. Who, and Reese Witherspoon’s Mrs. Whatsit – a triumvirate of immortal, time travelling, shape shifting good witches who clearly spent some serious time in hair and make-up – along with her school crush Calvin (Levi Miller) to sort the universe out again.
Adapted from the 1963 novel of the same name by American writer Madeleine L’Engle, the story has previously been made into a TV movie that was widely panned. In Ava DuVernay’s safe hands, however, it is destined to be one of the most hyped sci-fi movies of 2018 when it debuts in March. The film has been celebrated already for it’s casting, with women of colour in most of the main roles, and a mixed race main family (Chris Pine and Gugu Mbatha-Raw play Meg’s parents). Zach Galifianakis also appears, as a character called The Happy Medium, and Rowan Blanchard will appear in a role that has not yet been announced.
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Text Charlotte Gush