Wes Anderson's 2024 Oscar Winner Quietly Dropped on Netflix

Summary

• A few days ago, Netflix released a collection of Wes Anderson's short films that he made right after Asteroid City.
• One of these shorts won Anderson his first Oscar in 2024.
• This is a series of wonderful films that are adaptations of Roald Dahl short stories.

In 2009, Wes Anderson released an adaptation of a novel by the famous British author Roald Dahl. Of course, we are talking about one of the best films of Anderson's career, the animated Fantastic Mr. Fox. At the 82nd Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Animated Picture, but unfortunately the award was snatched by Disney 's Up. It was not Anderson's first project to be nominated but not win, but unfortunately it was not the last either, as it took almost 15 years for one of Hollywood's most extraordinary filmmakers to win the award. And it happened at last. On March 10, 2024, Wes Anderson finally won his first Oscar, which coincidentally went to a project that was also a live-action adaptation of Roald Dahl's work.

It turned out to be The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, a short film starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and now it's been added to the Netflix library. What's more, Anderson has been so prolific in recent years that he's also made three other short films based on Dahl's short stories of the same name. All four films have been compiled into one movie called The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More, and it's definitely one of the best works worthy of Netflix subscribers' attention.

What Is Wes Anderson's Latest Movie About?

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2023, but was added to Netflix later that month. Unfortunately, the film didn't get much hype, as even with Anderson's work, attention was still much more focused on Asteroid City, which had premiered in theaters four months earlier. However, as of March 15, 2024, a new 88-minute version, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More, is available on Netflix, which, in addition to an adaptation of the title story, includes titles such as: The Swan, The Rat Catcher, and Poison, all familiar to Dahl's readers.

The main story follows a wealthy Londoner named Henry Sugar (Cumberbatch) who one day comes across a medical report about a circadian named Imdad Khan, who can see through solid objects and has studied with a guru known as the Great Yogi. Henry, following Khan's life story, decides to take up yoga and meditation, and after a few years gains unprecedented abilities: in addition to seeing through objects, he finds himself able to predict the future, which he uses to win at casinos.

However, it is only after years of practice that the protagonist becomes disillusioned with money and material possessions, and decides to build an international network of hospitals and orphanages. It is worth noting that Henry's story was reportedly told to Roald Dahl himself (played magnificently by Ralph Fiennes) by his accountant.

Reasons You Should Watch This Movie

In addition to Cumberbatch and Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Richard Ayoade, Rupert Friend, David Gant and Jarvis Cocker starred in the short films. Notably, Cocker also wrote a song that was released exclusively as part of the new movie version. Cinematography was handled by Anderson's longtime collaborator Robert Yeoman and none other than Roman Coppola.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More truly looks like stories brought to life that Dahl himself would have appreciated, as Wes Anderson's retro visual language is as whimsical as it is emotional, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of the legendary British author's literary work.