Matilda (1996 Film) - Plot

Plot

Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson) is an extremely intelligent girl with a bright personality from an early age, but her spiteful and ignorant parents, Harry (Danny DeVito) and Zinnia (Rhea Perlman), neglect and even mistreat her, never noticing how gifted their daughter is. When Matilda reaches four, her father refuses to buy her a book, prompting Matilda to discover the local library and walk there every day to read while her family is out (Harry works as a used car salesman, Zinnia goes to play bingo, and her older brother Michael (Brian Levinson) goes to school).

By the age of six, Matilda begins to lose patience with her parents. In retaliation for her father belittling her, she mixes his hair tonic with her mother's hair dye, making him accidentally dye some of his hair blond. Harry later takes his family to his workshop, where he reveals that the cars he sells are actually faulty and irresponsibly managed. Matilda accuses him openly and he belittles her again. One of Harry's clients, Agatha Trunchbull (Pam Ferris), is the abusive headmistress of a poorly-run school, Crunchem Hall. Harry enrolls Matilda in the school, where she befriends several children, but at the same time, learns, especially from Lavender Brown (Kiami Davael) and Hortensia (Kira Spencer Hesser), of Miss Trunchbull's nature and her particularly harsh punishments towards the students, such as the dreaded "Chokey", throwing students out of windows and forcing a boy who stole her slice of cake to eat a whole cake in front of the entire student body to make him sick (though he finishes the cake without getting sick). Fortunately, Matilda's teacher, Miss Jennifer Honey (Embeth Davidtz), is a kind and lovely woman who adores her pupils and takes an immediate liking to Matilda for her intellect. Miss Honey speaks with Miss Trunchbull and requests that Matilda be moved up to a higher class, but Miss Trunchbull, having been fed a pack of lies about Matilda by Harry, promptly refuses. Miss Honey pays Matilda's parents a visit and requests that they pay a bit more attention to their daughter, but they refuse to listen, effectively making Miss Honey the only person who truly understands Matilda. Meanwhile, Matilda discovers that she and her family are under FBI surveillance, but her parents refuse to believe her, the FBI agents having already fooled them into thinking they are speedboat salesmen.

Sometime later, Miss Trunchbull goes to Matilda's class for a weekly "check-up" and starts to bully the students. As a prank, Lavender places a newt in Miss Trunchbull's water jug to frighten her. Miss Trunchbull, however, accuses Matilda, and Matilda's rage at the injustice leads to her telekinetically tipping the glass over and splashing the water and the newt onto Miss Trunchbull, frightening her. Feeling sympathy for Matilda, Miss Honey invites her to her house for tea. On the way, they pass Miss Trunchbull's house, and Miss Honey reveals her secret to Matilda: when she was two years old, her mother died, so her father, a doctor, invited his wife’s stepsister, Miss Trunchbull, to live with them and look after Miss Honey while her father was at work. However, Miss Trunchbull mistreated and abused her step-niece at every opportunity. When Miss Honey was five, her father died of an apparent suicide and in his will, he left all of his assets to Miss Trunchbull, leaving his daughter with nothing. Eventually, Miss Honey moved out of her aunt’s house into a small cottage she rented from a local farmer. Matilda and Miss Honey briefly sneak into Miss Trunchbull's house while she is out, but her unexpected return leads to a cat-and-mouse chase with Matilda and Miss Honey only barely escaping unseen.

When Matilda's telekinetic powers manifest again during an argument with Harry, Matilda trains herself to use her ability at her own will, and her first act is to sabotage the FBI agents' attempt to search Harry's garage without a warrant. That night, Matilda returns to Miss Trunchbull's house, and from outside, wreaks havoc in an attempt to scare Miss Trunchbull away. Miss Trunchbull almost flees in terror, but she finds Matilda's ribbon in the process and realizes that she was there. The next day, Miss Trunchbull visits Matilda's class again to get Matilda to admit her guilt, but as she begins abusing the children again, Matilda uses her powers to write a message on the blackboard, posing as the ghost of Miss Honey's father accusing Miss Trunchbull of murdering him and ordering her to leave town. Miss Trunchbull is driven insane by the terror and attacks the students, but Matilda keeps them out of harm's way with her powers and the student body forces Miss Trunchbull out of the school by pelting her with food and garbage until she leaves. Miss Honey's father's true will is discovered by the police, which named Miss Honey as the sole beneficiary of her father's assets, and Miss Honey moves back into her home, with Matilda visiting frequently.

Sometime later, however, the FBI finally uncovers enough evidence to prosecute Harry, and they prepare to flee to Guam. They stop by Miss Honey's house to pick Matilda up, but she refuses to accompany them, claiming she wants to stay with Miss Honey, who admits that she has come to see Matilda as the daughter she never had. In that moment, Harry and Zinnia then state that Matilda was the only daughter they had ever had and never understood, but they decide to let Miss Honey adopt her, this time on good terms with her. Harry, Zinnia and Michael escape, while Matilda lives a happy life with Miss Honey.