The Magic Faraway Tree

Currently only in theaters

Runtime: 1 Hour and 50 Minutes

Rated PG

"The magic of childhood, for many, tends to get forgotten as one grows up, but this is the story of one that did not."

‍ After quitting her job over ethical concerns, Polly Thompson and her stay-at-home-dad husband, Tim, decide to follow the dreams they once wrote about in a journal. They move their family to a farm in the middle of nowhere, determined to live off the grid, grow tomatoes, and make a living selling spaghetti sauce.

Their children, Beth and Joseph, are appalled by their parents’ new lifestyle, but quiet Francesca seems more open to the adventure. While exploring her new surroundings, Francesca unknowingly helps Silky, a magical being, recover a lost item. As a thank-you, Silky invites her to visit the Magic Faraway Tree. There, Francesca meets the tree’s zany inhabitants and discovers that a magical ladder at the top leads to an ever-changing collection of strange and fantastical worlds. Soon, what began as her parents’ attempt at a simpler life becomes a magical adventure unlike anything Francesca, or her siblings, could have imagined.

Themes:‍ ‍

Moving, magic, family, quitting, starting over, growing up, dreams, perspective, the Magic Faraway Tree, electricity, siblings, fairies, something being real regardless of belief, other worlds, sacrifice, tomatoes, friendship, teamwork, humans, forgetting, hard work and sacrifice being good at anything.

Language:

Religious Exclamation - 3 Heck - 1 What the… - 1

Stuff to be aware of: (Some of this is considered spoiler territory, but I try to keep things ambiguous)

Alcohol and Drugs - A man falls asleep drinking a glass of wine, and a computer screen on a refrigerator (like Siri) asks him if he wants more wine.

‍ Gross - Several characters fart multiple times in a scene.

• A woman catches and eats a fly, and enjoys it. Your kids will yell, “YUCK!”

‍ ‍LGBTQ - None

‍ ‍Scary - None of the following scenes are overly scary, and some aren’t meant to be scary.

• A woman’s face pops up outside a girl’s window at night. She looks in and opens the window to leave a letter.

• A vine wraps around a girl’s wrist, trapping her.

• In a brief scene, characters fly through a thunderstorm in a small plane.

‍ ‍Sexual - These are all meant to be humorous scenes

• After being hit in the groin, a man complains about his coco branch. He then pulls out coco beans and says they are ripe.

• A man is seen kissing a broom with eyes drawn on it like it is a woman.

‍ ‍Violence/Gore - A teacher says she used to be known as Madame Slap, because she slapped her students.

‍ ‍Religion - None

‍ ‍Other - A teen girl dramatically says, “I’m going to bed and I hope I don’t wake up.”,

Overall:‍ ‍

Seeing It With Your Family

This one is about as safe as movies come nowadays. There is no cursing, only one brief joke about drinking wine, and the few sexual references mentioned above are played entirely for comedy. There isn’t even a true villain for most of the movie. There is one woman who briefly captures and threatens the characters, but she is only in the movie for a short time and isn’t really part of the larger plot. Even with the occasional moments of peril, everything remains lighthearted and family-friendly.

What I Thought

I have not read the children’s book series, but the little research I’ve done suggests that the stories are somewhat in the vein of Roald Dahl’s books, except these were published before Mr. Wonka ever opened the doors to his chocolate factory in the 1930s and 40s. The movie appears to pull its story from several of the books, and as far as the film is concerned, that seems to have been the right approach.

Beyond simply being safe for families, The Magic Faraway Tree is whimsical and full of imaginative places, funny characters, and plenty of childlike wonder. At its heart, though, the story is really about a family learning to pull together and become more involved in one another’s lives. That’s a welcome message in a world where it’s increasingly easy for everyone in a family to bury their faces in their own devices.

The story probably won’t offer many twists or surprises for adults, but I still found myself laughing several times and enjoying the imaginative new worlds the characters visit. I knew going in that I was watching a magical fairy tale aimed primarily at children, so I let my inner child come out and simply enjoyed the adventure.

As a kid, I watched Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory over and over again, and I can imagine that if The Magic Faraway Tree had been around when I was young, I probably would have watched it multiple times too. As an adult, I don’t see myself returning to it again and again, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the trip. It’s a fun, whimsical adventure with a good message at its center: spend time with your family, be present in each other’s lives, and believe in one another.