The Secret Garden - A Decent Family Drama based on 1911 Novel of the Same Title

To my surprise, yesterday I noticed this movie was released on HBO Go together with another movie that I may write later. I had seen the trailer of the film many times before the pandemic hit us and we stopped seeing movies in cinemas. The movie's release was further postponed and finally it's available in Indonesian theaters. Lucky for me, I can see it easily (and legally) from the comfort of my home. OK, I'll dive into it now.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in 1947 during the time when England was still colonizing India. A young girl named Mary Lennox (Dixie Egerickx) who suddenly became an orphan overnight was sent from India to live with her uncle Lord Craven (Colin Firth - 1917, Love Actually etc) in England. During her stay, Mary met with the very strict housekeeper Mrs. Medlock (Julie Walters - Mary Poppins Returns, Paddington etc) who was not a fan of her "uncivilized" behavior. She also met for the first time with her cousin Colin Craven (Edan Hayhurst) who was sick and strapped to bed.

While playing around the large manor's environment, Mary somehow find a beautiful garden which seemed to be kept a secret. She then befriended with Dickon (Amir Wilson - His Dark Materials etc) who was the younger brother of the servant Martha (Isis Davis) and they both love to explore the garden together.

So what was the reason for the garden to be kept secret? And what would happen to Mary as she tried her best to fit in the Craven family? Find them all in this family drama movie.

End of Brief Story Line

OK, honestly I did not really know what to expect of this movie. I only read the word secret and the trailer seemed to show a bit of magical element which was why I wanted to give this a try (plus obviously the fact it's still playing in theaters so I can at least not be too late compared to Indonesian audiences as I did with other new movies). Anyway when I watched this, my first impression was OK, this looked like a family drama with many emotional moments.

But after I completed the film, I felt there were not a lot of touching scenes that would make audience felt emotional. However, there was a bit of feel good sense after watching it. It was generally fun looking at a young girl exploring such a large manor in England during that time. And I really like Mary's interaction with her cousin Colin and also her new friend Dickon. But I personally thought that Mary's adjusting to life in the new place seemed a bit too easy.

The movie would not have been interesting had it not for the quite brilliant performance of the child actress Dixie Egerickx who played her role perfectly. Edan Hayhurst was also amazing as the cousin. Of all the 3 children, I was only familiar with Amir Wilson who seemed very young in here despite the movie was made after His Dark Materials. But in general, the 3 of them were wonderful playing as these characters. The adult cast like Colin Firth and Julie Walters were more as support roles and I think they did not have enough screen time to leave deep impression to me.

Overall, as a drama movie adapted from the 1911 novel of the same title written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, this one was pretty decent. It has a nice story aided by the great performance by 3 child actors/actress. But it was not as memorable as I had expected and the magical element was very little since the focus was the story of these children's adventures. The special effects were quite good though and nice to see the very colorful and beautiful garden. So if you are interested in movie with such attribute, then you are welcome to give it a try. You can opt to see it in certain cinemas or on HBO Go application. The choice is yours.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars