Film

Roald Dahl's The Witches

Name: Roald Dahl's The Witches
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Family, Horror
Released: 2020
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Jahzir Bruno, Chris Rock

Fantasy

Robert Zemeckis's adaptation of Roald Dahl's wickedly dark children's novel, transplanted to 1960s Alabama. It's a visual feast of grotesque transformations and elaborate set design, shot through with genuine menace beneath the whimsy. A film that respects its young audience's appetite for the scary and strange.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like fairy-tale horror played for belly laughs, where the scares are real enough to thrill but the tone stays bright, gleeful and a bit mischievous, the way Dahl's sly cruelty always did.

Skip it if you want a gentle family film with little menace, since the villains are genuinely nasty and the mood turns creepy and grotesque more than once before it ever settles back into fun.

What it asks of you: It runs about 104 minutes and moves briskly, with broad physical comedy and big stylised set pieces, so it rewards a willingness to be startled and then giggle at yourself.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Matilda1996

Danny DeVito directs and stars in this other Roald Dahl adaptation with equal affection for the author's dark humor and child perspective. It captures that Dahl-esque mix of terrible adults and resilient kids with real warmth and wit.

But It's gentler than The Witches and less visually ambitious, so if you're after Gothic atmosphere, you'll find this more conventionally heartwarming.

Coraline2009

Stop-motion horror-fantasy about a girl trapped in a sinister parallel world. It has the same DNA as The Witches—beautiful but creepy, designed to thrill rather than baby younger viewers, with genuine stakes and danger.

But It's darker and more psychologically disturbing than this adaptation; the uncanny valley effect of the animation isn't for everyone.

Paddington 22017

A film that proves children's stories can be genuinely sophisticated, funny, and visually inventive without talking down to their audience. There's a delight in craft here that mirrors Zemeckis's approach.

But It's warm where The Witches is menacing, so you won't get the same delicious gothic thrills, just a different kind of excellence.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Roald Dahl's The Witches

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Phantom of the Opera2004

Both use baroque visual excess and performative villainy as their primary tools; both understand that corruption can be beautiful.

Joel Schumacher's operatic gothic romance, also built on elaborate sets and glamorous decay. It shares The Witches' visual language—beauty and corruption entwined—but inverts the moral axis: here the protagonist is seduced by grandeur rather than endangered by it. Same aesthetic register, completely different emotional journey.

But It's operatic in every sense, including the pace and emotional register. Three hours of longing and dramatic soprano is a very different evening from a family adventure.

The Spiderwick Chronicles2008

A contemporary adaptation that blends the magical and the mundane in a similar way, with real production design and practical effects. It respects the source material while making bold choices in tone and casting.

But It's less polished and visually distinctive than Zemeckis's work, and the story feels more conventional despite its dark fairy-tale trappings.

Gremlins1984

Joe Dante's film has that same unsettling tonal balance—comedy that tips into genuine nastiness, creatures that are both funny and terrifying, a willingness to scare kids without apology. Pure entertainment that doesn't talk down.

But The creature effects are practical and gory for a mainstream film; some of the violence is genuinely dark in ways that feel dated now.

The Dark Crystal1982

Jim Henson's epic fantasy built from puppetry and practical design. Like The Witches, it's visually audacious and takes its young audience seriously, with stakes that matter and beauty alongside the grotesque.

But The pacing is glacial, the dialogue is sparse, and the story is simpler than you might expect from something this ornate. It demands patience.

The Owl House2020

An animated series that captures Roald Dahl's tone in a contemporary package—dark humor, morally complex adults, a young protagonist learning to navigate a world of magic and deception. Genuinely clever and surprisingly sophisticated.

But It's episodic rather than a contained story, and the animation style is more stylized than naturalistic, which changes the texture entirely.

Labyrinth1986

Jim Henson's fantasy adventure with David Bowie as a seductive goblin king. Like The Witches, it's visually baroque and delightfully weird, unafraid of being genuinely strange in service of a child's journey.

But The plot is thinner than the visual spectacle, and some of the practical effects have aged into an uncanny territory that works against the film's charm.

The Changeling2023

Both treat folklore with visual seriousness and production design that makes the magical feel real; both respect the unsettling power of transformation and displacement.

A dark fantasy miniseries built on Slavic folklore, with a visual style that shares Zemeckis's commitment to tangible production design. It's grotesque and beautifully shot, unafraid to scare its audience, and structured like a modern fairy tale with real danger and consequence. Similar DNA, utterly different story.

But It's adult-oriented with genuine violence and disturbing imagery; much darker in register than The Witches and utterly humorless. A grim experience rather than an exciting one.