Matilda (1996) on Netflix

PG19961h 42mComedy Family Fantasy

Matilda Wormwood is a six-year-old prodigy ignored by her parents, who keep her out of school. Sent to Crunchem Hall, she meets its principal, Agatha Trunchbull, and her teacher, Miss Honey.

Netflix3.8/5
IMDb7.0/10199,046 votes
Rotten Tomatoes92%

Trailer

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Plot summary

Harry and Zinnia Wormwood pay almost no attention to their daughter Matilda, and they will not send her to school, so she spends her days reading at the public library. Her father sells a car to Agatha Trunchbull, the principal at Crunchem Hall Elementary School, and Trunchbull takes Matilda in as a pupil. On her first day, classmates Lavender and Hortensia warn her about Trunchbull's punishments, which include throwing children out of a window and locking them in the Chokey. Matilda's teacher, Miss Jennifer Honey, hears her answer multiplication questions meant for older classes and asks for her to be moved up, but Trunchbull refuses. At home, the FBI watches Harry over his illegal dealings, including stolen car parts, and Zinnia flirts with the two agents.

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Matilda (1996)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

In the scene where Trunchbull swings Amanda Thripp by her pigtails, the wires supporting the girl's harness were looped around Pam Ferris's fingers for grip, and the centrifugal force tore her fingertip badly enough to need seven or eight stitches.
Actress Pam Ferris suffered real injuries playing Miss Trunchbull: the scene where erasers are thrown at her required her to keep her eyes open, and chalk dust got trapped in them so badly she needed several hospital trips to have her eyes flushed out.
The mother of young star Mara Wilson was diagnosed with cancer during filming and died before the movie's release; director Danny DeVito showed her the finished edit beforehand so she could see her daughter's performance, and the film was dedicated to her memory.
Universal originally won the rights to Matilda after a heated bidding war with Columbia Pictures, but a budget dispute between Danny DeVito and the production company led Universal to abandon the project, letting Columbia's sister studio TriStar pick it up instead.
The portrait shown as Miss Honey's late father, Magnus, in the film is actually a portrait of Roald Dahl, the author of the original novel.
Miriam Margolyes confirmed that she had auditioned for the role of Agatha Trunchbull, in a filmed interview with Jo Brand for the UK television special Roald Dahl's Revolting Rule Book, which aired on September 22, 2007.