A Wrinkle in Time
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: March 9, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 52 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
30
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Original-CinKaren GordonJan 3, 2019
Ava DuVernay’s beautiful and visually imaginative A Wrinkle In Time is a magical mystery tour for teenage girls. It’s a female empowerment movie that says love triumphs over evil and light trumps darkness. It says that the many teenage girls who believe they’re not good enough can find their strength and beauty, even through their flaws. Read full review
80
CineVueZoe MargolisDec 28, 2018
By showing that self-worth and acceptance of one’s faults are to be valued, DuVernay has shown how empowerment can come from changing your own outlook, and perhaps adults as well as kids will be able to take something positive from this movie. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonMar 7, 2018
Director Ava DuVernay emphasises an emotional clarity and narrative simplicity that allows the book’s sci-fi examination of friendship, family and forgiveness to resonate with almost mythic force. Read full review
75
The AtlanticChristopher OrrMar 16, 2018
It’s refreshing to see a kids’ movie that’s content to remain just that, and doesn’t feel a need to douse itself in pop references or inside jokes. Find the right frequency, and you just might enjoy yourself. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 8, 2018
Even without every flaw completely ironed out, it offers values worth celebrating across the time-space continuum. Read full review
75
ConsequenceAllison ShoemakerMar 7, 2018
This is Meg Murry’s movie, and while DuVernay’s visually stunning film may occasionally stumble, Reid does nothing less than soar. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldMar 7, 2018
Its message is of a young woman’s empowerment, and of how love can save a family — and if the special effects sometimes overwhelm that message (such as a glorious field of flowers that takes flight in a colorful frenzy), it rings through loud and clear by the end. Read full review
75
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 7, 2018
This Wrinkle in Time is undoubtedly flawed, wildly uneven and apt to tie itself in narrative knots in a quest to wow you with sheer Technicolor weirdness. It's also undeniably DuVernay's movie as much as Disney's, and works best when she puts her feminine energy, high-flying freak flag and sense of empathy front and center. Read full review
70
Village VoiceApril WolfeMar 7, 2018
I was transported by DuVernay’s adaptation to the mind-set of my girlhood — embarrassing insecurities and all. This is not a cynic’s film. It is, instead, unabashedly emotional. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMar 7, 2018
By turns gorgeous, propulsive and feverishly overwrought, A Wrinkle in Time is an otherworldly glitter explosion of a movie, the kind of picture that wears its heart on its tie-dyed sleeve. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMar 7, 2018
A Wrinkle in Time, faithful to the affirmative, democratic intelligence of the book, is also committed to serving its most loyal and susceptible audience. This is, unapologetically, a children’s movie, by turns gentle, thrilling and didactic, but missing the extra dimension of terror and wonder that would have transcended the genre. Read full review
70
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeMar 7, 2018
Awash in bold colors, bright patterns and ebullient kids, director Ava DuVernay’s new take on A Wrinkle in Time dazzles its way across time and space even if it doesn’t quite stick the landing. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesMar 8, 2018
The opening act, I’m sorry to report, is a mess. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerMar 7, 2018
Only Reid and Pine feel like they’re playing fully imagined characters, and DuVernay wrestles with how to make the overstuffed material both contemporary and timeless. Read full review
67
IGNLaura PrudomMar 7, 2018
A Wrinkle in Time is ambitious, hopeful, and imaginative, but it’s also messy, overwrought, and oddly paced. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 10, 2018
Although advertised as a family-friendly feature, A Wrinkle in Time is a poor choice for younger children. The glacial pacing of the first half-hour, coupled with less-than-easily-digestible chunks of exposition will cause many kids under 10 (and a few adults as well) to squirm in their seats with impatience. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzMar 8, 2018
There's a lot here that feels insufficiently shaped or fitfully realized, but at the same time, there's a lot to like. It's the Platonic ideal of a mixed bag. The newness of the new parts counterbalances the ineffectiveness of the stuff that seemingly every fantasy blockbuster does, and that this one doesn't do well. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 7, 2018
So how’s the movie already? Not terrible, not great, something of a disappointment after what feels like a geological epoch of hype. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 7, 2018
It has flashes of inspiration and raw emotion, and beyond the famous faces in the cast, Disney’s Wrinkle in Time is graced with a wonderful, natural Meg courtesy of the young actress Storm Reid. Now 14, she’s easy and versatile screen company. The movie around her is a little frustrating and rhythmically stodgy, however, partly for reasons inherent in bringing tricky, elusive material to a different medium. Read full review
60
Total FilmKevin HarleyMar 26, 2018
Reid’s a fine lead, but DuVernay’s usually firm footing wobbles in the CGI clouds of Disney fantasy. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyMar 21, 2018
The film’s messaging, heavy-handed as it can be, has some firework moments that might really spark the imagination. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMar 9, 2018
No Hollywood film can ever solve the central problem of adapting this book, in that it inevitably does too much of the imagining for you. DuVernay makes a big-hearted go of it, even if she seems slightly dazzled by her own magical mystery tour. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraMar 8, 2018
This spectacular adventure sometimes wanders across the borders of invention into artificiality, but finds its feet when it focuses in on its characters and their relationships. Read full review
60
SlateAisha HarrisMar 7, 2018
For all of Wrinkle’s unevenness, DuVernay still manages to draw out some glimpses of more intimate beauty, the kind that one expects from the filmmaker. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 9, 2018
What follows is a phantasmagoria that is more cheesy than transporting. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMar 7, 2018
It almost doesn’t matter that the movie is too emotionally prescriptive to have any real power, or too high on imagination to leave any room for wonder; DuVernay evinces such faith in who she is and what she’s doing that “A Wrinkle in Time” remains true to itself even when everything on screen reads false. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredLuke Parker Mar 10, 2018
Trying to juggle complex theories of metaphysics and cosmology with simple themes of self-acceptance and the deterioration of the “darkness,” A Wrinkle in Time comes off as a disjointed and miscalculated project, rather than a visual and contemplative journey. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorMar 8, 2018
This pretty movie feels convenient rather than meaningful. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonMar 8, 2018
It’s hard to understand what went wrong — the cast couldn’t be more appealing, and the film is bursting with special effects. But as an emotionally satisfying experience, it’s a bust. Read full review
50
New York PostSara StewartMar 8, 2018
Too often content to smile beatifically instead of delivering the necessary thrills. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckMar 7, 2018
It’s also all over the map, in every way possible. It’s visually gorgeous at times but then boring to behold at others, emotionally poignant at times but stunningly cloying at others. It’s also confusing (though to be fair, many might call the book confusing, too.) Mostly, it’s just a frustrating whole comprised of some pretty promising parts. Read full review
50
VoxAlissa WilkinsonMar 7, 2018
For as much as DuVernay’s film is a lovely and good-hearted movie that delivers lots of eye-popping, imaginative awe, its status as an adaptation necessarily raises the question: Was A Wrinkle in Time the right source material through which to tell this story? Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 7, 2018
There are moments of real power and beauty in Ava DuVernay’s film, based on the much-loved Madeleine L’Engle novel. You just have to work too hard to find them. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 7, 2018
It’s conscientious. It’s watchable, and it’s never less than competent. But it seems to strive so hard to be inspirational, rather than letting the inspiration come through the story, that it becomes preachy and self-conscious. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 7, 2018
Movie magic is an elusive thing. A Wrinkle in Time is a bold film that takes big chances from start to finish, in a courageous effort to be something special.... But for all its scenes of characters flying and soaring and zooming here and there, it never really takes off. Read full review
50
The PlaylistWill AshtonMar 7, 2018
Despite its strong performances, notably from Reid, Pine, and Witherspoon, its wide collection of marvels and it’s joyful sense of self, A Wrinkle in Time crumbles under expectations. But it’s not so much a failure as it’s a flawed do-gooder that could make our world better. It doesn’t dazzle like the stars and it doesn’t transport us away, but it still offers hope. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Mar 7, 2018
Director Ava DuVernay’s version of the beloved children’s classic has a big cast and the best of intentions. It’s socially progressive, racially diverse and packed with positive messages. It’s just not much fun. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittMar 7, 2018
L'Engle's source material is a sneakily deep novel for youngsters, and Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell's screenplay doesn't do nearly enough with those themes of death, loss and parents letting their children down. Instead, theirs is a patchwork adaptation with weak character development, a lack of narrative groove and a haphazard finish. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyDarren FranichMar 7, 2018
A Wrinkle in Time hits that unfortunate un-sweet spot common to big-budget science-fiction/fantasy, where the spectacle feels more summarized than experienced. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJake ColeMar 7, 2018
The film may involve the instant movement among unfathomable distances and the shattered limits of space and time, but it’s only Storm Reid's character who feels multidimensional. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 7, 2018
A Wrinkle in Time is wildly uneven, weirdly suspenseless, and tonally all over the place, relying on wall-to-wall music to supply the missing emotional connection and trowel over huge plot holes. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyMar 7, 2018
Only the faintest glimmers of genuine, earned emotion pierce through the layers of intense calculation that encumber Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time. Read full review
42
Paste MagazineWill LeitchMar 9, 2018
There are movies that fail because they are misguided, or because their heart isn’t in the right place. This movie wants to be special, which makes the fact it is such a lumpy, clumsy mess all the more frustrating. You root for this movie, and the movie tries to go a long way on that good will. It doesn’t make it far. Read full review
42
The VergeTasha RobinsonMar 9, 2018
It’s a pretty take on the story, but it’s also a frustratingly safe and squishy one. It’s infinitely well-intentioned, full of warm self-affirmation and positivity, and absolutely nothing about it feels emotionally authentic enough to drive those messages home. Read full review
42
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMar 7, 2018
DuVernay finds herself in the unenviable position of being both the right and wrong person for an important job. A Wrinkle in Time is gratifying for what it is, a step forward for creative women of color, and so disappointing for what it turns out to be. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 8, 2018
A Wrinkle in Time, was strong enough to carry me through the film’s first, wobbly 15 minutes — but not a lot further. Read full review
40
Vanity FairRichard LawsonMar 8, 2018
DuVernay can’t seem to settle on a consistent visual or narrative cadence. Her camera is all over the place, hurtling in for woozy close-ups and then rearing back to reveal what is meant to be vast splendor but is often just bland C.G.I. prettiness. Read full review
40
ScreenCrushMatt SingerMar 7, 2018
It’s honestly a little baffling how so many good choices could produce something so frustrating. Read full review
40
The GuardianAmy NicholsonMar 7, 2018
The film is tentative and over-protective, as though it’s terrified that a story empowering kids to help good battle evil could give someone a nightmare. It reduces the whole universe to one girl’s self-esteem. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 7, 2018
Which is a big build-up to essentially saying, “This movie’s a stiff.” Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 8, 2018
If there’s a secret to a successful screen adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, it’s still secret. Disney’s version of the Madeleine L’Engle young-adult novel is a magical mystery tour minus the magic and mystery, and a great disappointment, since there were so many reasons to root for the film’s success. Read full review
25
UproxxVince ManciniMar 7, 2018
If anything, the trouble with Wrinkle is that you never really get a sense of DuVernay’s personal touch. In fact, it feels a lot like Brad Bird’s big budget, equally smarmy 2015 Disney film, Tomorrowland. Both attempt to be so broad and universal that they feel disconnected from anything human. Read full review
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