The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Netflix | Release Date: September 20, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsOct 6, 2023
In the end, both Dahl’s stories and Anderson’s movies require a few common but difficult skill sets of the actors. Wit. Technical precision. Verbal facility. Adroit timing. And some fun, even if it’s tightly prescribed and carefully confined to a certain place in a fastidiously arranged, ever-shifting picture frame. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangSep 28, 2023
[Anderson’s] movies have always proposed — sometimes ingeniously, sometimes exhaustingly, always sincerely — that we might benefit from looking at the world from a fresh vantage. And so it is with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, in which a revolutionary new way of seeing holds the key to an altogether deeper transformation. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennySep 1, 2023
It’s disarming and lovely to see a spiritual growth parable rendered in Anderson’s jewel-box style. His delivery here is not willfully eccentric but gorgeously centered. Form underscores content in "Henry Sugar" in a most delightful way. Read full review
95
The Daily BeastNick SchagerSep 20, 2023
A beautiful and bountiful bite-size film, it stands as Anderson’s second triumph of 2023 (following June’s Asteroid City) and a mini-masterwork in its own right. Read full review
92
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeSep 1, 2023
An adaptation of the Roald Dahl story, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is as much about the director’s love of arch humor, fourth-wall shattering, and aggressive art direction as it a redemption saga about a rich man who finds purpose in his life. Read full review
91
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerSep 28, 2023
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a choreographed dance of an experience — one that could have easily felt like a run-on sentence. However, Anderson is skilled enough as a filmmaker to make sure to pace things out with a deliberate and sure hand, utilizing both long takes and clever edits to make 37 minutes fly by like 15. Read full review
91
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 1, 2023
While The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar may be, in some respects, the most literal Dahl adaptation you could possibly imagine, the true author of this project is never in doubt. Read full review
90
Rolling StoneDavid FearSep 28, 2023
You can barely call it a movie. You can, however, recognize it as one of Wes Anderson‘s best attempts at transforming both his and his literary idol’s idiosyncrasies into something like art — and the most satisfying posthumous double act in ages. Read full review
90
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSep 27, 2023
As the narrative unfolded in lickety-split fashion, I found myself totally charmed and a little dizzy. Anderson uses almost all of Dahl's prose here, and while that could've backfired, or even resulted in bloat, the filmmaker keeps the proceedings brisk and snappy, relying on Dahl's inherent dry humor to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Read full review
90
PolygonSiddhant AdlakhaSep 14, 2023
It’s a short film, but its portrayal of inspiration, self-evident in both its artistry and homage, is simply enormous. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 2, 2023
The movie’s hectic (albeit very precise) swirl of dialogue creates a background against which the idea of slowing down and directing all your attention towards one thing feels like a genuine rebuke of the world. It’s a simple and obvious enough conceit, but Anderson and his cast have such fun with it that they render it fresh and original. Read full review
90
Screen DailyNikki BaughanSep 1, 2023
Its layered story, about a rich man and the extraordinary book that changes his life, is particularly well-suited to Anderson, who revels in such Russian Doll narratives and delivers the story as a dramatic reading, narrated by its characters. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinSep 1, 2023
If Asteroid City was a too-rich 20-course tasting menu, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a deliciously calibrated amuse-bouche. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenNov 2, 2023
It’s fun, of course, but also a wittily verbose master class on the way voice can be employed in fiction. Read full review
83
ColliderRoss BonaimeSep 27, 2023
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar feels like a project Anderson needed, a way to explore smaller storytelling in a manner that still allows him room to experiment, have fun, and utilize his very specific voice and talents. Read full review
83
The PlaylistRafaela Sales RossSep 2, 2023
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar grants Dahl’s work a pop-out book feel in its theatrical storytelling. Read full review
80
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyOct 25, 2023
Lovely, immaculate, and extremely faithful. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeOct 4, 2023
This is an archetypal Anderson film: mannered, fussy, obsessively designed – normally irksome traits, but in this alchemic instance it’s an utterly delightful combination. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeSep 29, 2023
As in the best of Anderson’s work, there is a lesson in here about the addictive balm of storytelling. Read full review
80
Little White LiesHannah StrongSep 27, 2023
For devotees, it’s a delightful little morsel, lovingly brought to life as only Anderson knows how, and illustrates his creativity when it comes to adaptation. Read full review
80
EmpireLaura VenningSep 26, 2023
A delightful first instalment in a planned quartet of short films, Anderson and Dahl’s sensibilities continuing to be a match made in heaven. Read full review
80
NMEJames MottramSep 1, 2023
As ever with Anderson, the design is meticulous. Some can find this style cloying, but it suits this glorified short perfectly, never outstaying its welcome. Read full review
80
TheWrapBen CrollSep 1, 2023
Given the film’s abridged runtime and its genuine playfulness, even Wes-skeptics might find themselves cracking a wry grin from time to time. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 1, 2023
Practically all that’s missing is an appearance by Anderson himself, the way Alfred Hitchcock used to present episodes of his television series. Then again, one could say he’s present in every frame. Read full review
80
Total FilmJane CrowtherSep 1, 2023
Whimsy with a capital W that unleashes Anderson’s arsenal of quirks. Truly marvellous medicine for fans, but could be a broken record for those who aren’t. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinSep 1, 2023
This being a Wes Anderson film, it almost goes without saying the details are delectable. Read full review
75
The Film StageLeonardo GoiSep 1, 2023
Neither twee nor saccharine, Anderson’s aesthetic tends to mirror the auras and oddball personalities of his films. In a work suffused with stupefying mysteries, the strange visions Henry Sugar teems with echo its drifters’ wide-eyed wonder as well as their creator’s. It’s an infectious feeling. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 29, 2023
It’s the clever scene changes, transitions and under-reactions of the players to every event — astonishment at Imad Khan’s skill, Henry’s blase realization he need never lose at blackjack again, changes of heart and matters of life and death — that entertain here. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 27, 2023
At 37 minutes long, its brevity perhaps exposes or even creates a flimsiness in his signature style that in a longer film would have more space to breathe and parade itself. Read full review
60
The GuardianXan BrooksSep 1, 2023
Anderson’s short, sweet, neatly managed production follows the original tale pretty much to the letter. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenSep 1, 2023
Unfortunately, its 39 minutes unfold in such motor-mouthed haste, it feels like a dad belting through a bedtime story while the football’s on downstairs. Read full review
More From This Movie

85 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL