Roald Dahl's The Witches (2020)

Roald Dahl’s The Witches (2020) is the kind of family fantasy that remembers a crucial ingredient too many modern “kid movies” forget: it should be a little scary, the way a good campfire story is scary, with a grin in its voice and mischief in its bones. Robert Zemeckis stages the mayhem with brisk, prankish energy, pairing glossy, storybook visuals and Alan Silvestri’s punchy score with set pieces that lean into transformation-horror just enough to feel deliciously daring. Anne Hathaway goes big as the Grand High Witch—flamboyant, wicked, and weirdly magnetic—while Octavia Spencer grounds the film with warmth and steel, the reassuring hand you want to hold when the lights go dim. It won’t be for every family (the peril and body-change moments can be intense for sensitive kids), but if you’re in the mood for a Halloween-ready romp that’s equal parts funny, fantastical, and gleefully creepy, this one earns its bite.

Roald Dahl’s The Witches (2020) is clearly aiming for a glossy, spooky-fun family ride with big comedy beats, heightened fantasy, and a dash of kid-friendly menace. The problem is it often feels like it’s working harder to impress you with noisy CGI and frantic pacing than to earn the creepy charm and bite that make the story stick, so the whole thing can come off busy rather than enchanting. Anne Hathaway goes big and theatrical (sometimes too much), while Octavia Spencer brings warmth that helps ground the chaos, but the tonal mix can still feel oddly slick and uneven. If you’re sensitive to intense transformation scenes or prefer your Dahl adaptations darker, sharper, and less effects-driven, this one may leave you more distracted than delighted.