Wonka (movie)

Wonka is a 2023 musical fantasy movie directed by Paul King, who co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby. It is a prequel to the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and stars Timothée Chalamet as the title character, following his early days as an eccentric chocolatier. Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman and Hugh Grant star in supporting roles in the movie.

Wonka was released in the United Kingdom on 8 December 2023 and in the United States on 15 December 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Plot

Willy Wonka, an aspiring magician, inventor, and chocolatier, arrives in Europe to establish his chocolate shop at the Galeries Gourmet. Burning through his meager savings, he is coerced to stay at Mrs. Scrubitt's boardinghouse by her henchman Bleacher and, despite orphan Noodle's warning about the fine print, signs a contract because he is illiterate. To pay them off, Wonka introduces "hoverchocs", chocolates that make people fly, facing mockery from three rival chocolatiers – Arthur Slugworth, Felix Fickelgruber and Gerald Prodnose – who call the Chief of Police to confiscate his earnings for selling without a chocolate store.

Unable to pay the exorbitant fees imposed on him by the contract, Wonka is captured and forced to work in a launderette for Mrs. Scrubitt alongside other captives: Abacus Crunch, Piper Benz, Larry Chucklesworth, Lottie Bell, and Noodle. Learning of a cartel consisting of the rival chocolatiers; with Slugworth as the leader, who exploit the police chief's weakness for chocolate to force Wonka to leave town, Wonka makes his escape with the help of Noodle; while he promises her a lifetime supply of chocolates, she promises to teach him how to read. Wonka tells Noodle that his affinity for chocolate stems from his late mother, and mentions the theft of his chocolates by an enigmatic small orange man who has been stealing them for years. To produce his signature chocolate, Wonka and Noodle travel to the local zoo, milking Abigail the giraffe. Together with other the launderette workers, they embark on a chocolate selling crusade to alleviate their debts while using tunnels underneath the city to evade Scrubitt and the chief. Unmasking an Oompa Loompa named Lofty as the thief, Wonka discovers that the Oompa Loompa seeks retribution for the cocoa beans Wonka took from Loompaland years ago under Lofty's watch before he escapes by duping Wonka.

Using the funds raised from selling chocolates, the laundrette workers opened Wonka's dream chocolate store. The Chocolate Cartel and the chief, now unable to arrest him since he has a legitimate shop, expose him to Scrubitt. Infusing his chocolates with Yeti sweat, Scrubitt incites chaos among the customers, leading to the destruction of Wonka's store. Wonka agrees to the cartel's offer to leave town by ship to pay off everyone's debts. All of the workers are released from the launderette except Noodle; Slugworth pays Scrubitt to keep her there indefinitely, and she is locked in the pigeon coop. Wonka deduces that Noodle is Slugworth's niece, before he and Lofty are forced to jump off the boat that has been rigged to explode. After rescuing Noodle with the help of the group, they devise a strategy to obtain the cartel's incriminating account book.

Taking advantage of Abigail's distraction, Wonka and Noodle infiltrate the cartel's base. They are confronted by the cartel, who reveal that Noodle, who was reported dead to her mother, was left by Slugworth to Scrubitt to eliminate her claim to the family fortune. The cartel attempts to drown Wonka and Noodle in chocolate, but Lofty rescues them and they unveil the cartel's misdeeds to the authorities and the public. After eating an entire stock of "hoverchocs", the Cartel ends up flying in the air with no way to come down. Wonka's friends release the cartel's chocolate reserve through a fountain, laced with Wonka's unique ingredients, ruining the cartel's enterprise, while the Chief-of-Police is arrested after the payments made to him are revealed. The crowd revels in tasting Wonka's chocolate fountain, and Wonka unwraps the last chocolate bar his mother had given him, discovering a golden paper with a message that says what matters is "who you share the chocolate with". He reunites Noodle with her mother, settles his debt with Lofty, and finds an abandoned castle for sale to commence building his factory with Lofty as his tasting chef.

In an epilogue, Scrubitt and Bleacher are arrested after their attempt to eliminate evidence of sabotaging Wonka's shop backfires, and the rest of Wonka’s friends return to their old lives.

Cast

• Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka, an aspiring magician, inventor and chocolatier with a difficult dream to open his very own chocolate shop.
• Calah Lane as Noodle, an orphan girl who becomes Willy's assistant.
• Keegan-Michael Key as Chief-of-Police, the unnamed chocolate-addicted chief of police who is in cahoots with the Chocolate Cartel.
• Paterson Joseph as Arthur Slugworth, a corrupt businessman and the leader of the Chocolate Cartel.
• Matt Lucas as Gerald Prodnose, a corrupt businessman and member of the Chocolate Cartel who always mentions "in which he dies" when the mentioning of someone ending up in "an accident" happens.
• Mathew Baynton as Felix Ficklegruber, a corrupt businessman and member of the Chocolate Cartel who retches at the word "poor".
• Rowan Atkinson as Father Julius, a corrupt chocolate-addict priest in league with the Chocolate Cartel.
• Jim Carter as Abacus Crunch, an accountant who reveals to Wonka the existence of the Chocolate Cartel after previously working for Slugworth.
• Tom Davis as Bleacher
• Olivia Colman as Mrs. Scrubbit
• Hugh Grant as Lofty, an Oompa-Loompa who becomes Wonka's ally.
• Natasha Rothwell as Piper Benz, a plumber.
• Rich Fulcher as Larry Chucklesworth, a comedian.
• Rakhee Thakrar as Lottie Bell, a telephone operator.
• Sally Hawkins as Willy Wonka's late mother.
• Simon Farnaby as Basil, a security guard at the zoo.
• Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Officer Affable, a police officer.
• Ellie White
• Murray McArthur
• Tracy Ifeachor