Wes Anderson, the cinematic auteur behind The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Darjeeling Limited, is on a winning streak right now. His 2021 movie The French Dispatch broke pandemic ticket records, with this year’s Asteroid City similarly tearing up the box office. But while we’ve gotten used to waiting years between Wes movies, it seems like he’s treating us to a real bounty in 2023: following its premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival (where we gave it a glowing review), his Netflix adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is finally hitting the streaming platform.
So what is this film exactly? Is it even a film at all? Here’s everything we know.
What’s the plot of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar?
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a collection of seven short stories Roald published in 1977, taken from the name of one of the short stories within it. It seems like the film itself will make use of that format, with the same collection of actors playing characters in separate short films based on stories within the collection. Confused? We are too.
The longest, titular section is based loosely on the true story of Kuda Bux, a man Roald Dahl wrote a non-fiction feature on before working on his own adaptation. It tells the story of a gambler, Henry Sugar, crossing paths with a man who has his eyes sewn shut but purports to be able to see through other means. Apparently, it’s Roald Dahl’s satirical take on his own critics who made a point of his nastiness throughout his career. It’s also one of his stories that’s intended for older children.
As for the other three shorts? Those are largely based on The Ratcatcher, The Swan and Poison. The first short story is a sinister tale about an exterminator with an unusual way of killing pests that speaks to the dark side of human nature. The second is a surreal story about two bullies, one of whom receives a rifle for their fifteenth birthday and proceeds to torment the birds, rabbits and another victim with it. Finally, Poison, which has been previously adapted by Alfred Hitchcock, is set in colonial India and follows a doctor who tries to save a patient from a deadly, venomous snake laying on top of his bedridden body.
Who’s in the cast of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar?
Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Rupert Friend and Richard Ayoade make up the entire cast of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, as well as the other accompanying shorts.
Is there a trailer for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar?
There is indeed!
Has Wes Anderson adapted other Roald Dahl books?
Wes is no stranger to Roald Dahl’s stories. Back in 2009, he famously transformed the author’s pastoral fairytale, Fantastic Mr Fox, into a stop-motion classic starring George Clooney and Meryl Streep. Wes told IndieWire that Roald Dahl’s widow, Lindsay Dahl, had formed a relationship with him when he was making The Royal Tenenbaums. “For years I wanted to do Henry Sugar. They set this story aside for me because I was friends with them,” he said. He dwelled upon what he could do with the story, and only managed to make his version of the tale come together after the Dahl family had sold the rights to his estate to Netflix.
How long is The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar?
The leading short is the longest of the four, at 40 minutes long, while the lengths of the others are yet to be announced.
What’s the release date of Netflix’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar?
After its global debut at the Venice Film Festival, the film arrived on Netflix on 27 September. The remaining shorts will premiere on 28, 29 and 30 September.
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