The year is 1901. A young girl of 10 years old named Mary Lennox lives in India with her neglectful parents who constantly ignore her. At some point, her parents die. So, Mary is sent to England to live with her uncle in his mansion.

Once there, she meets this unfriendly housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock, who states that her uncle will not see her. Later Mary hears someone crying. So, she tries to find out where it is coming from. Unfortunately, Mrs. Medlock catches her and confines her back to her room. Shortly after, a bubbly servant called Martha, presumably only a few years older than Mary, comes to her room. She tries to check on her. But Mary just gets angry and is rude to her. Martha doesn’t get offended, though.

Mary eventually discovers that her latest aunt, who was her mom’s twin sister and who died 10 years ago, owned a garden. However, her uncle had closed that garden off. Mary tries to find a way to get in it but has trouble. She asks some man to help her. But he refuses. However, Martha’s brother, Dickon Sowerby, offers to aid her. He also can tame animals.

Mary eventually hears crying again. She discovers that it’s coming from her cousin, Colin Craven, who is stuck in his bed. He can’t walk and everyone believes that he is sick. However, Mary gets impatient with him. The two don’t get along for a little bit.

But later Colin and Mary learn that they have a lot in common. They are both 10 years old and both lost their mothers. Not long after, Mary takes Colin in a wheelchair out to the garden, which they keep secret from others.

At some point, Lord Archibald Craven (Colin’s father and Mary’s uncle) returns home from his trip. Mary meets him while he is in a depressed mood. He recognizes her eyes looking like his deceased wife. Mary asks him if she could plant some seeds. He gives her permission to do so.

After that, she, Colin, and Dickon, become close like friends. But Mrs. Medlock will do anything to ruin their happiness.

There are so many aspects of this film that are memorable. Perhaps the biggest one is characterization. All the characters are well-developed, unique, and either lovable or the opposite. Or even a little bit of both.

First, I want to discuss the main character, Mary. I will admit that she was sometimes unlikable due to her bitterness and constant anger, especially when others were trying to be nice to her. That being said, I also understand that she was consistently ignored by her parents. So, it does make sense that she would be irritable. But the good news is that she does change and become nicer to others.

Mrs. Medlock was such a jerk. I felt bad every time she mistreated Mary and Colin. When Lord Craven eventually put her down to the point where she cried, I felt satisfied. She got what she deserved.

I wish Lord Craven had more screentime, too. I know that it was important that he was not a very major character. But I really admire how he treated both Colin and Mary. His relationship with both children was sweet. I particularly loved it when he comforted Mary because she was worried that he didn’t want her.

As for the other characters, I also loved Martha and Dickon. Aside from the character development, I appreciate how the pacing was neither too fast nor too slow. It was just right for a historical fantasy drama.

Which brings me to my next thought: although this movie is often classified as a fantasy, there was very little magic used during it. The only mentions of magic were when the garden was reopened and maybe when Dickon tamed animals. Otherwise, the film was more of a drama. But that’s a minor issue.

A major flaw was when Mary was being dressed by her servants at the beginning. The camera showed her topless from a distance. I almost thought that she was a boy. That moment shocked me since I never considered that appropriate for a family-friendly flick. I also thought that it wouldn’t be allowed in films—not unless they were rated R.

And that was not the only time with content generally considered inappropriate for kids. There was a scene where Martha was bathing Mary. Although no areas that would be censored were displayed, there was still too much nudity shown. So, if you have younger kids, you may want to consider skipping or fast-forwarding those mentioned in this block and the previous one above.

But overall, I enjoyed The Secret Garden. It is both an emotional and beautiful story.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.