| Four Kids and It | |
|---|---|
 Release poster | |
| Directed by | Andy De Emmony |
| Written by |
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| Based on | Four Children and It byJacqueline Wilson |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Pardue |
| Edited by | Alex Mackie |
| Music by | Anne Nikitin |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Sky Cinema |
Release date |
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Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | €5 Million[1] |
| Box office | $798,211[2] |
Four Kids and It is a 2020 Britishfantasy film directed byAndy De Emmony and written bySimon Lewis and Mark Oswin. It is based on the 2012 novelFour Children and It byJacqueline Wilson, which is based onE. Nesbit's 1902 novelFive Children and It.
The film starsPaula Patton,Matthew Goode,Russell Brand andMichael Caine.[3][4]
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The film is set at a beach inCornwall where siblings Ros and Robbie spend a holiday with their father David, his girlfriend Alice, and her daughters Samantha and Maudie from America. The children dislike each other at first but begin to get along once they discover a mysterious magical creature, Psammead or Sand Fairy, on the beach. Psammead can grant one wish a day, but the wish ends at sunset.
Using a wish with Psammead, the children travel back 100 years. There they meet the aristocratic Tristan Trent who holds Ros at gunpoint and demands to know about the Sand Fairy. However, Samantha, Robbie, and Maudie ask Psammead for superpowers and rescue Ros.
Next, the children travel to the past to learn how to make a wish permanent, but are unsuccessful. The children return to the present, where Tristan Trent III wants to use the Sand Fairy for dastardly deeds. Tristan finds the Sand Fairy's location by putting a tracking device under Ros's shoe. The children take Psammead with them and trap Tristan on the beach.
Afterwards, the children realize they like each other. They take Psammead to their house, hiding him from their parents in the bathroom.
Principal photography began in July 2018 in Ireland.[3]
Four Kids and It was originally intended for asimultaneous release on the subscription serviceSky Cinema and in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 10 April 2020, but due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, it was released solely on Sky Cinema on 3 April.[5][6] In the United States, the film was released on digital, Blu-ray, DVD, andon demand on 30 June 2020 byLionsgate.[7]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 49% based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Four Kids and It has a few moments of whimsy and charm, but it's not enough to leave a lasting impression."[8] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100 based on reviews from seven critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[9]
Guy Lodge ofVariety wrote, "'Careful what you wish for' may have been the essential moral takeaway from the sourcebooks, but that wasn't to discourage wishing for anything at all: In all respects, this serviceable but anodyne programmer could dream a bit bigger."[10] Justin Lowe ofThe Hollywood Reporter called it "More curio than classic,Four Kids and It may hold children's attention (and sometimes test adults' patience) over the movie's brief running time, but seems unlikely to inspire many a second viewing."[11]Anna Smith ofEmpire wrote: "The kids and Caine are good, but this lacks the magic of its source novels. Younger children may enjoy it, but its attempts to entertain older viewers mostly fall flat."[12]
The film grossed $798,211 worldwide.[2]
