TL;DR – A fascinating literary turducken that captivates you.  

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar Review –

In the last week, we have looked at first The Rat Catcherand thenPoison, two fascinating adaptations of Roald Dahl’s short stories by Wes Anderson. It was at this point that I discovered that they were from a group of four that were released, and I had missed the first two. Well, that can not do, so we got back to the start with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which may have given some critical context for the ones that followed.

So to set the scene, we open with ‘a writer’ (Ralph Fiennes) explaining their process of getting ready to write when he introduces us to Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch). Henry is a rich man and one of the many useless rich people floating around like seaweed in the world. But Henry liked to bet. So, on one wet and dreary day, he drifted through a grand house till he came across a peculiar book in the library, A Report on Imdad Khan: The Man Who Sees Without His Eyes by Dr. Z.Z. Chatterjee, dated December 1935, Calcutta. Henry was immediately engrossed with the tale.  

This is such an odd story, as most of it is an explanation of a story inside a story, a literary Turducken, if you will. Yet, that oddness is what helps define the work. It almost works as an ice breaker as you, the audience, are more likely to follow the tale because you buy into the fantasy because you can see through the cracks in the charade. Or, more so, the slightly off-painted box compared to the background in the charade.

At this point, it should be no surprise as to how captivating these works are, even here in the first episode, which is the most straightforward of the shorts so far. Yes, you have those hints of the theatre setting and the sort of soft-Brecht style that would become more pronounced going forward. But even here, the longest of the shorts so far, you can feel that calm hand of the narration drawing you through the many layers of the story.

The politely devastating prose of Dahl is on full display as he narrates the world he sees, but the delivery helps bring it all to life. Dev Patel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Ayoade, Ralph Fiennes & Ben Kingsley revel in performances that are as captivating as they are odd. You always feel you are in safe hands, and that helps temper some of the absurdity. It also helps that they are drawing from some of Dahl’s lesser-known works, so you can come into it with a fresh set of eyes, rather than re-treading over a known path.

In the end, do we recommend The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar? Yes, we do. Like all of these shorts, it is impeccably produced, stunningly performed, and captivating to watch. I have one more of these to watch, but I do hope this is a series that they come back to do more of in the future.     

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Poison
Directed by – Wes Anderson
Screenplay by – Wes Anderson
Based on – The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl
Cinematography by – Robert Yeoman
Edited by – Andrew Weisblum & Barney Pilling
Production/Distribution Companies – Indian Paintbrush, American Empirical Picture & Netflix
Starring – Dev Patel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Ayoade, Ralph Fiennes & Ben Kingsley
Rating – Australia: PG