Disney+ Original. 2021. Based on the novel of the same name by Trenton Lee Stewart
I'm not actually sure if I read the book. I know I started it... in the airport, on my way back to school years back. So the odds of me getting distracted by the workload of the semester and never finishing are decent. But people who are sure that they finished it tell me it's reasonably faithful to the book.
I loved it.
It's quirky, hopeful, and it has Constance Contraire - what more could you want?
There's a lot to relate to in the children chosen for this mission, for me it was particularly Reynie that I felt an instant kinship with. (We find him first reading on a couch in the back of a busy room, then getting teased for using a big word, which he complains isn't even that big of a word.) So watching them take on the amorphous blob of a crisis with humility, empathy, and courage under the guidance of Mr. Benedict made me feel seen and even a little empowered. Not to mention the image of the father figure, trapped out of sight, wanting so desperately to rush to their aid, but knowing that he must let them go in order for their mission to be accomplished and for them to grow into who they need to be. As someone who believes in a loving God, intimately though invisibly involved in my life, I found it to be a poignant image. And he says things like this:
Please hear me. You are needed. I know this world has made you feel unwanted, abandoned, angry, but it needs you desperately. It doesn't know it, but your unique talents can save it from this coming storm. The truth is that this world may never appreciate you or see what makes you special, but I see it. I see hope.
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