‘Matilda the Musical’ follows the story of an extraordinary young girl who dares to stand up against her controlling parents and an abusive headmaster at her school. The movie is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Mr. & Mrs. Wormwood unexpectedly welcome a baby girl, Matilda, who grows up lonely, not being loved by her parents. Mrs. Wormwood never wanted a child, while Mr. Wormwood was looking forward to having a boy.
Matilda keeps herself happy by expanding her knowledge. She dives deep into the books she borrows from Mrs. Phelps’s library.
Things go sideways when school inspectors knock on their door asking about Matilda’s education. Matilda’s parents forgot to send her to school, and therefore, they got fined.
One of the school inspectors, Miss Jennifer Honey, encouraged Matilda to come to their school. Mr. Wormwood himself had no option.
Soon, Matilda joined Crunchem Hall, a school run by Headmistress Agatha Trunchbull. Matilda and another new student, Lavender, walked into the school with high hopes, only to have them crushed later on.
Agatha Trunchbull is quite cruel and cares a lot about punctuality. The students over here like to believe that this school is no less than a prison. The only escape at Crunchem Hall is Miss Honey’s class. Miss Honey teaches with love and care.
On Matilda’s very first day, Miss Honey takes note of Matilda’s exceptional mind. Matilda managed to solve a mathematical equation written on the board, which is for higher-grade students.
Upon asking, Matilda revealed how well-versed she is and the number of books she has read. Miss Honey acknowledged Matilda and tried to pitch her name to Miss Trunchbull.
Miss Trunchbull liked to think that all the kids are alike and should be treated harshly in order to make sure that they behave.
Many of Matilda’s friends wondered if Matilda has some sort of superpower, like telekinesis, owing to the kind of mind she possesses.
As time went by, Matilda learned how things work here at Crunchem Hall. Miss Trunchbull targets whoever she likes if something goes wrong with her. She then sends that particular student to ‘Chokey’, a shed in the middle of the woods.
Every time Miss Trunchbull targeted a kid, Matilda stood up against her. Amidst all of this hassle, Matilda found an escape by creating a story of her own.
She imagined the story of an acrobat and an escapologist. The acrobat’s stepsister was jealous of the acrobat. This soon led to the acrobat’s demise. The step-sister took over the role of raising the child of the acrobat and escapologist.
She treated the child cruelly. One day, the escapologist found out about it and confronted the stepsister. That was the last time the child saw her father. Matilda struggled to end this story.
Back at school, Matilda became a hero for standing up to Miss Trunchbull, who soon learns that students are revolting against her. She then wastes no time in turning the physical exercise class into a military camp.
During the same class, Matilda unlocks her telekinesis powers when she sees Miss Trunchbull bullying another student. Matilda uses her newly-acquired powers to attack Miss Trunchbull using a water glass.
Lavender had thrown her newt into that glass. The same newt entered Miss Trunchbull’s clothes, and she ended up embarrassing herself in front of everyone.
Matilda the Musical in detail:
Are Miss Trunchbull and Miss Honey related?
After watching Matilda use her powers, Miss Honey invited her to her house for tea. Miss Honey told Matilda her story.
Miss Honey lost her father when she was young. Her aunt raised her. Miss Honey claimed that her aunt was the evilest person she had ever met. She gave her bills to pay once Honey became a teacher.
Miss Honey’s aunt even stole her father’s house by providing documents suggesting that he has left that house for her.
She then gave Matilda her father’s scarf. Matilda recognized that scarf and guessed that Miss Honey’s mother was an acrobat and her father was an escapologist.
She connected all the dots and came to the conclusion that the story she is writing is Miss Honey’s story. She isn’t imagining it; this story is real. Miss Honey further revealed that by her aunt, she actually means her step-aunt, who is none other than Miss Trunchbull.
Does Miss Trunchbull give up?
Matilda vows to give Miss Honey her life back. On her way back home, she destroys Chokey, and Miss Trunchbull takes note of the explosion made.
The next day, Miss Trunchbull cancels Miss Honey’s class and turns the classroom into a dark dungeon. She conducts a surprise spelling test. Whoever spells the words wrong will be sent to a newly created Chokey.
Miss Trunchbull makes up difficult words that don’t exist on purpose to send Lavender inside the Chokey. That’s when all the students decide to stand up for Lavender. They deliberately misspell words.
Miss Trunchbull was prepared for this, as she had several Chokeys in the room.
Matilda unlocks the true extent of her telekinesis powers and uses the blackboard to address Miss Trunchbull. The board reads that this is Magnus, Miss Honey’s father, talking.
Matilda as Magnus demands Miss Trunchbull to give Miss Honey her house back. Eventually, Matilda creates a monster out of the chains around the classroom and then throws Miss Trunchbull out.
Miss Honey retrieves the keys to her house and the school from Miss Trunchbull and asks her to run.
Who does Matilda end up with?
The school celebrates its victory over Miss Trunchbull. Amidst the celebration, Matilda’s parents arrive, who are now running away from the Mafia as Mr. Wormwood got involved with the wrong people.
Matilda had no option but to go along with them until Miss Honey requested her parents to let her stay with her. Mr. Wormwood asked whether Matilda wants the same.
Matilda admitted that she would like to live with Miss Honey. Matilda’s father allowed her, and the school got back to celebrating.
Matilda and Miss Honey moved into the latter’s father’s house, while Crunchem Hall changed its name to ‘The Big Friendly School’.
Also Read: Sonic Prime ending explained: Does Sonic return to his home world?