Wonka (2023)

Think Paddington in a top hat. Wonka is that sweet all the way through, and if you wanted the sly menace of the earlier Willy Wonkas, there’s none of it here. Timothée Chalamet plays young Willy as pure sunshine, a dreamer with a suitcase full of tricks who, since he can’t read, signs Mrs. Scrubitt’s boarding house contract on the spot. Soon he’s stuck in her launderette, working off fees that keep growing, with a sharp orphan named Noodle at his side. His hoverchocs, chocolates that make you float, scare a cartel of three rival chocolatiers into bribing the police chief to keep him down. Hugh Grant shows up as Lofty, an Oompa Loompa who has been pinching Willy’s sweets. The production design looks like a snow globe you could eat, the songs stick, and Chalamet’s singing is fine, if not great. It made $634 million worldwide on a reported $125M. A 7.6 because it’s a treat with no bitter center. $7,327 says you bite into a fancy chocolate this month and wait, just for a second, to float.

What works: Chalamet is charming, the production design looks like a storybook come to life, and the songs stick in your head for days.

What doesn’t: It’s so sweet and safe that the mischief of earlier Wonkas is gone, and the origin story never really explains the man he becomes.

Who it’s for: Families who loved the Paddington movies and want a holiday night where nobody has to cover their eyes.