The wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate‐maker became the beloved Willy Wonka. This irresistibly vivid and inventive big screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, chock‐full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time—proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible. A film by Paul King, starring Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman, and Hugh Grant.

After seven years perfecting his chocolate-making skills around the world, young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in a European city, his heart set on establishing his first shop at the Galeries Gourmet. However, he quickly runs out of money.

Come with me and you’ll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you’ll see
Into your imagination

Willy is approached by Bleacher (Tom Davis) who seems interested in Willy’s situation and is eager to help by taking him to Mrs. Scrubitt’s boarding house. Despite having no money, Mrs. Scrubitt (Olivia Colman) offers him a night’s stay and time to find the money by tomorrow, presenting him with a contract she assures is standard. As Willy reaches for the pen, orphan Noodle (Calah Lane), Mrs. Scrubitt’s worker, warns him to read the fine print. Willy, impulsively or perhaps naively, signs the contract anyway, oblivious to the fact that he cannot read.

We’ll begin with a spin
Traveling in the world of my creation
What we’ll see will defy explanation

The next day, Willy heads to Galeries Gourmet to sell his inventive “hoverchocs,” chocolates that make people fly, hoping to earn enough money to pursue his dream of establishing his chocolate shop. However, his creativity attracts jealousy. Three famous chocolatiers denounces him to the police, claiming he disrupted their businesses and violated a licensing law. Officers arrive, confiscating Willy’s earnings. Desperate, Willy begs Officer Affable (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) for a single silver sovereign to pay his rent.

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world?
There’s nothing to it

As Willy returns to Mrs. Scrubitt’s boarding house, hoping to pay his rent as agreed, he discovers a mountain of hidden charges buried in the contract’s fine print. Now saddled with a staggering debt of 10,000 silver sovereigns, he’s forced to work in Mrs. Scrubitt’s grimy launderette, where he meets others who were also tricked by the cunning landlady.

There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination

Noodle helps Willy sneak out, allowing him to sell his groundbreaking, artisanal sweets at surprisingly affordable prices. The Chocolate Cartel, threatened by Willy’s innovation and fearing their monopoly crumbling, showers Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key) with 1,800 boxes of decadent chocolate, a bribe sweeter than any legal loophole, to eliminate Willy before his creations could upend their empire.

Living there, you’ll be free
If you truly wish to be

From the whimsical opening scene to the heartwarming finale, Wonka is a visual and emotional feast. Timothée Chalamet delivers a brilliantly eccentric Willy Wonka, weaving childlike wonder with a touch of darkness, that feels both fresh and true to Roald Dahl’s iconic creation.

The supporting cast is equally stellar, with Olivia Colman’s viciously cunning Mrs. Scrubitt stealing every scene, Hugh Grant’s hilarious Oompa-Loompa Lofty with fascinating backstory adding bursts of comic relief, Rowan Atkinson’s brief appearance yet memorable as Father Julius, and Keegan-Michael Key’s chocolate-addicted chief of police.

Wonka premiered at Royal Festival Hall in London on 28 November 2023. The film was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 8 December, and in the United States on 15 December.