I really enjoyed it as someone who has seen the stage musical many times.

The only downside for me was I did feel (as I felt in the stage play) that having the kind librarian figure detracts from Matilda's relationship with Miss Honey. There's only a limited amount of screen time, and I would have preferred it that Miss Honey got to shine a little more. Lashana Lynch is an amazing actress and she did a wonderful job.

Likewise, the role of the parents was very abbreviated to make room for more of the escapology story. I know that the angle of this version is "the power of stories" but every time we went to the flashback, the overall movie lost momentum. Onstage the parents have some more to do, which I really enjoyed, because it was very funny and added nuance.

I also really loved how they handled "When I Grow Up". As one of my favourite songs from the musical, I was worried about the staging (since it's a very physical song on stage!) but they did a wonderful job with it.