The Secret Garden (2020) Parent Guide

Mary Lennox is an unhappy child. Raised in India during the last days of the British Raj, Mary tells stories to entertain herself in the face of her mother’s emotional neglect. Now with both parents dead from cholera, Mary has been sent to the desolate moors of Yorkshire to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven. Hunchbacked and reclusive, Lord Craven is uninterested in his niece, and prefers not to be reminded of his late, adored wife whom Mary so closely resembles. Left entirely to her own devices, Mary roams the vast Misselthwaite estate until she comes across a walled garden that just might contain enough magic to bring happiness to all the lost souls in the manor.

The Secret Garden is one of the great classics of children’s literature. Written by Frances Hodgson Burnett in 1911, it has been loved by generations of children. I read and re-read my copy to the point that the binding fell off and pages started to fall out. Two copies now stand on my bookshelf - just in case. Given the iconic status of the novel, adapting it for film (for the fifth time!) is a risky proposition. Fans are fervent and the bar is high, which raises the all-important question: How good is this version?

I would have to reply that this adaptation of The Secret Garden is a decidedly mixed bag. On the plus side, it is undoubtedly a gorgeous production with vibrant, color-saturated vistas in the secret garden that will evoke gasps of wonder from even the most jaded of viewers. It is also blessed with an outstanding lead performer. Child actors are often the weak spot of a movie, with a strong tendency towards stiff, wooden acting. Not Dixie Egerickx. This talented young girl delivers a tour de force as the passionate, imaginative, imperious, and lonely Mary Lennox. She provides the emotional weight that grounds the film and any successes are due to her.

Unfortunately, the film isn’t a triumph. It begins well - although I can’t understand why the timeframe was moved from Edwardian England to the post-World War II period. The pacing is brisk, the gloomy and foreboding atmosphere of Misselthwaite convincing. But the movie doesn’t invest enough time or emotion in building Mary’s relationships with the other children in the story. And in the final third of the film, the script abandons the novel’s plotline and devolves into a tired, clichéd psychodrama. Parents will not be happy to see Lord Craven drink what is apparently alcohol and in an impaired state, carelessly cause a major house fire. Fortunately, there is little other negative content besides a few moments of peril that will not alarm most children.

This is a film that is well suited for family viewing but might not hit the mark for fans of the novel. Frankly, I was disappointed to see the “secret garden” morph into a “magic garden”. In the book, the garden’s enchantment is simply the everyday magic of Mother Nature – turning seeds into plants and bringing health and life to those who spend time outdoors. But in the film, the garden is a vast series of landscapes which are explicitly magical with instantly growing flowers; helpful trees and birds; vivid, out-of-this-world, saturated colors; and rapid healing powers. It’s breathtakingly beautiful, but its very other-worldliness removes it from our own experience and makes it seem unattainable. What we need instead is the hopeful message of the original story – that patience, hard work, and the natural rhythms of nature can give us a brighter future than we can see in dark times.