‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ Remains Genuinely Childlike

There’s a lot of pressure when you adapt a children’s classic likeThe Magic Faraway Tree for film, but mostly the modern fantasy holds true to Enid Blyton’s classic tale.

What stood out:

In The Magic Faraway Tree, the Thompson family move to the country after a professional setback prompts them to start a new life. Tim and Polly’s children (Andrew Garfiled, Claire Foy), have mixed feelings about the relocation and severe lack of Wi-Fi. Fran (Billie Gadson) is most open to the move and discovers a magical tree full of fantastical lands where imagination is rekindled and the family’s bond renewed.

There’s something delightfully innocent about the tone of The Magic Faraway Tree.

Oftentimes, children’s movies tend toward driving an agenda or trying to stir big emotions in their audience. The Magic Faraway Tree stays playful and grounded, rooting for ideals that keep families connected in our hyper-digitised, hyper-individualised world and encouraging us to retain hope and wonder into adulthood.

Tim and Polly have a folder of dreams they drew when they first got together, imagining all the possibilities of what their life could look like. As happens, kids were born, bills arrived, time went quickly and their path changed. It’s only when things go awry, they get a chance to revisit their dreams.

For any parent, The Magic Faraway Tree recognises how hard you work to shield your kids from life’s hardship. The Thompson’s are inviting their kids to be resilient and try something new, but there’s no way they’ll dent their childhood with the fear of what happens if it fails.

For children – especially the screen-bound kind – it sells the appeal of messy, creative curiosity and fun. When you don’t have a device in your hand, there’s a world of people and stories to explore, some we make up and others we find.

The theme of magic is present, as you’d expect, but it’s a subtle feature in the backdrop of a story focused on family adventure. Rebecca Ferguson’s villain Dame Snap is fairly tame, playing the archetype of a disgruntled teacher whose distaste for childish humour is her worst trait.

The Magic Faraway Tree offers a truly childlike experience for families to enjoy over the school holidays and may just have you turning to Enid Blyton tales for more inspiration.

The Magic Faraway Tree is in cinemas now. Rated G