'WONKA' is shockingly good?!

"Wonka" (2023) has been released, and it shockingly … isn’t woke.

The film stars Timothee Chalamet and has an audience score on Rotten Tomatoes of a whopping 91% and a critic score of 84%.

“Just a nice family-friendly movie with absolutely no funny business,” Lauren Chen comments.

"There’s no feminist heroine, there’s no first-ever trans non-binary drag queen character, just a wholesome, magical kids' film.”

The film serves as a prequel/origin story to the beloved 1971 classic "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" — and Chen believes it did the original justice.

“Now that I have actually seen it, I must report that I am pleasantly surprised, which almost never happens,” Chen says.

The film focuses on a young Willy Wonka, who’s just arrived in the big city to fulfill his dream of becoming the world’s best chocolate maker. His goal is to open up his very own shop at the famous Gallery Gourmet, but he unfortunately has no money.

“If I have to describe this film in one word, as someone who grew up in the '90s, it would probably be ‘nostalgic,’" Chen explains.

Part of that nostalgia comes from the fact that the film had “no discernable political messaging.”

“I left this movie feeling genuinely warm and fuzzy inside, which is just so rare nowadays,” Chen says.

The film however has its flaws.

“It could have been tighter, it definitely could have been shorter, but honestly overall this is a really good movie, and I would not be surprised if this ends up becoming a classic,” Chen adds.

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