Children have been reading Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" for well over a century, and it looks as though we've got another feature-film adaptation of the classic novel in our future. Starring Dixie Egerickx (Patrick Melrose), Edan Hayhurst (Genius), Colin Firth (KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE), and Julie Walters (PADDINGTON), the film tells the story of Mary Lennox (Egerickx), an orphaned girl who is sent to live with her uncle in Yorkshire after the deaths of her parents in India. Although she dislikes her new home, she soon begins uncovering several family secrets which leads to the discovery of a magical secret garden.
Chances are good that you're already familiar with this tale, but I'm certainly down for a heart-warming family film to serve as a reprieve from the world being threatened by aliens, global pandemics, and giant monsters.
The official synopsis for THE SECRET GARDEN:
THE SECRET GARDEN tells the story of Mary Lennox (Dixie Egerickx), a prickly and unloved 10-year-old girl, born in India to wealthy British parents. When they suddenly die, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven (Colin Firth) on his remote country estate deep in the Yorkshire moors. There, she begins to uncover many family secrets, particularly after meeting her sickly cousin Colin (Edan Hayhurst), who has been shut away in a wing of the house. Together, these two damaged, slightly misfit children heal each other through their discovery of a wondrous secret garden, lost in the grounds of Misselthwaite Manor. A magical place of adventure that will change their lives forever.
THE SECRET GARDEN will hit theaters in the U.K. on April 17, 2020.
