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Roald Dahl's The Witches

Play trailer 2:12 Poster for Roald Dahl's The Witches PG 2020 1h 45m Fantasy Adventure Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
50% Tomatometer 186 Reviews 32% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In late 1967, a young orphaned boy goes to live with his loving grandma in the rural Alabama town of Demopolis. As the boy and his grandmother encounter some deceptively glamorous but thoroughly diabolical witches, she wisely whisks him away to a seaside resort. Regrettably, they arrive at precisely the same time that the world's Grand High Witch has gathered her fellow cronies from around the globe -- undercover -- to carry out her nefarious plans.
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Roald Dahl's The Witches

Roald Dahl's The Witches

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Critics Consensus

The Witches misses a few spells, but Anne Hathaway's game performance might be enough to bewitch fans of this Roald Dahl tale.

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Critics Reviews

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas ABC Radio (Australia) Dec 18, 2020
3.5/5
The Witches is enormous fun, bringing new life to an old story Go to Full Review David Stratton The Australian Dec 16, 2020
3.5/5
With Stanley Tucci very amusing as the hotel manager and Spencer giving a wonderfully warm performance, the film is never less than engaging. The visual effects, some of them created in Melbourne, are excellent... Go to Full Review Jake Wilson The Age (Australia) Dec 10, 2020
2.5/5
Who could improve on the regal fury of Anjelica Huston?... Certainly not Anne Hathaway, whose performance in this remake, by comparison, has more than a tinge of the high school drama club. Go to Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Oct 28, 2025
3/5
…Anne Hathaway does well, as does Octavia Spencer, but the comedy shrinks as the scale of the action increases, and this slick version of Roald Dahl's The Witches somehow lacks the magic of the original prose, or Quentin Blake’s beloved illustrations…. Go to Full Review Francesca Steele iNews.co.uk Dec 10, 2024
2/5
Robert Zemeckis’s new adaptation of Roald Dahl’s story is slick and dull. Go to Full Review Joonatan Itkonen Region Free Jul 13, 2024
3/5
It’s not a classic for all ages, and Zemeckis has undoubtedly been better, but for fans of the book and the director, there are certainly far worse options out there. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Robert P @Superbad Sep 9, 2026 The Witches is not a great movie! See more Melven L @Melvenjdash Sep 5, 2026 The best childhood movie that got a remake is amazing And slightly better than the original See more Ryan R @Patchwerk88 Sep 4, 2026 It's entertaining and fun, but that's about it. Anne Hathaway does an evil witch a little too well... See more Luke S @RT28456481 Jul 29, 2026 The plot holes were too stupid even for a kid's movie See more Ida T @RT20621651 Jul 28, 2026 Loved the book as a child, and thought I'd give the movie a go. Spencer does an excellent job as the grandmother, she really holds the spirit of the character, and Jahzir Bruno was very charming. The design of the witches was perfect, and I loved the costumes in general. Tucci is always fun, and Hathaway was a truly scary villain. All the best scenes are between the human characters. Unfortunately, the moment the children turn into mice there's a lot of filler CGI action scenes that robs the movie of soul and good plot. The originally heartfelt moment when they discuss the life span of mice fall incredibly flat. I'll never understand why Scandinavian villains are given German accents. For some reason we are also served an army of child soldiers? And apparently fat jokes never grow old... A movie with a lot of great potential which could've been really good, but instead the final half dropped the ball. Not bad, but I don't have a desire to rewatch. See more Petros T @PetrosTserpelis Jul 27, 2026 Looking at the cast and crew, it's promising, but they really dropped the ball. Anne Hathaway and Chris Rock are just miscast, Octavia Spencer is on autopilot, and only Stanley Tucci remains as a reliable presence. The CGI is too obvious and cannot match the gravitas of good practical work, silly subplots and character moments are added and only serve to create weaknesses in the story, and the film soon descends into offensively brainless family entertainment territory. A big missed opportunity. See more Read all reviews
Roald Dahl's The Witches

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Cast & Crew

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Robert Zemeckis

Director

Anne Hathaway

Grand High Witch

Octavia Spencer

Grandma

Stanley Tucci

Mr. Stringer

Kristin Chenoweth

Daisy

Chris Rock

Older Hero Mouse

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Roald Dahl's The Witches

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Roald Dahl's The Witches

The Witches (2020) Roald Dahl's The Witches (2020) A scene from "The Witches." A scene from "The Witches." A scene from "The Witches." A scene from "The Witches." A scene from "The Witches." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In late 1967, a young orphaned boy goes to live with his loving grandma in the rural Alabama town of Demopolis. As the boy and his grandmother encounter some deceptively glamorous but thoroughly diabolical witches, she wisely whisks him away to a seaside resort. Regrettably, they arrive at precisely the same time that the world's Grand High Witch has gathered her fellow cronies from around the globe -- undercover -- to carry out her nefarious plans.
Director
Robert Zemeckis
Producer
Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Luke Kelly
Screenwriter
Robert Zemeckis, Kenya Barris, Guillermo del Toro
Production Co
Necropia Entertainment, The Jim Henson Company, Warner Bros., Esperanto Filmoj, ImageMovers, Double Dare You
Rating
PG (Scary Images/Moments|Language|Thematic Elements)
Genre
Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 22, 2020
Runtime
1h 45m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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