Wicked (2024)
Directed by Jon M. Chu
Yes · Woke
How we score movies →Consciousness Markers
Deliberately diverse ensemble casting with Cynthia Erivo as lead, Michelle Yeoh, and other performers of color in principal roles. Reflects contemporary casting sensibilities.
Narrative centers female agency and friendship, with Elphaba challenging systems that vilify and marginalize her. Female protagonists drive the story.
The entire premise recasts the Wicked Witch as a sympathetic protagonist, fundamentally reframing the source mythology to challenge established narratives.
Casting Erivo as a character defined by visible difference (green skin) invites contemporary readings about racial othering and discrimination, though not explicitly foregrounded.
The film balances earnest messaging about systemic injustice with spectacle and entertainment value. Progressive themes present but not delivered with aggressive preachiness.
The Broadway source material contains coded queer subtext in the Elphaba-Glinda relationship. The film likely retains this but doesn't make it explicit or central.
Marissa Bode, a wheelchair user, appears in the ensemble cast, though body diversity is not emphasized as a thematic concern.
The story touches on aristocratic privilege and institutional power through Glinda's background, but economic critique is not central to the narrative.
The Oz narrative involves environmental themes tangentially, but climate crusade is not a primary concern of the adaptation.
No apparent representation of or focus on neurodivergent characters or themes in the narrative.
Synopsis
In the land of Oz, ostracized and misunderstood green-skinned Elphaba is forced to share a room with the popular aristocrat Glinda at Shiz University, and the two's unlikely friendship is tested as they begin to fulfill their respective destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
Why it received this score
Wicked represents the current state of the prestige musical as a vehicle for contemporary social consciousness, arriving at a modest level of cultural awareness. The film's deliberate casting choices, particularly Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, invite readings about othering and marginalization that extend beyond the narrative's immediate concerns. The central friendship between two women, one privileged and one ostracized, provides scaffolding for examining systemic injustice, though the film rarely pushes beyond the emotional into the truly political.
The source material's inherent revisionism, which recasts a villainous figure as a sympathetic protagonist, aligns with contemporary narrative sensibilities. Jon M. Chu's direction prioritizes spectacle and emotional resonance over preachiness, which may disappoint those seeking more pointed social commentary while satisfying audiences who prefer their messaging wrapped in musical numbers and production design.
The ensemble casting reflects a contemporary understanding of representation without centering it as the narrative's raison d'etre. The film exists in that middle territory where it acknowledges modern cultural concerns without abandoning its primary function as mainstream entertainment. It is earnest without being strident, progressive without being transgressive.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Critic Reviews
“If you're a Wicked fan, it's hard to imagine you could want anything more from this thrillifying film adaptation. Ariana Grande's and Cynthia Erivo's performances as Glinda and Elphaba will have you defying gravity.”
“Fueled by exquisite performances from Tony winner Erivo (“The Color Purple”), as Elphaba, or the Wicked Witch of the West, and Grammy winner Grande as Glinda the Good Witch, “Wicked” is the best movie musical in years, representing a rare instance when performances, visuals and songs are of equally high quality.”
“It joyfully expands on the source material with extended musical numbers and astute childhood flashbacks in a combination that will delight committed Ozians and newcomers alike.”
“This picture should have passed by in a sprint, not slogged past like an overlong, overbudgeted Macy’s Parade with Music that would test the patience of anyone, including that toughest PG audience of all — kids.”