by Angela Fortuna

Disney’s highly-anticipated “A Wrinkle in Time” made its way to theaters at the end of February and has since made its viewers think about the truth and abilities in time travel.

The film was adapted from the 1962 book of the same name written by Madeleine L’Engle. Unfortunately, L’Engle died in 2007 before she could witness the film adaptation of one of her most well-known novels.

Directed by Ava DuVernay, the movie features fantastic imagery and visual effects to portray the scenes within the movie. DuVernay previously directed the well-known movie “Selma” along with “13th,” two films that have completely different plots as the inviting and adventurous “A Wrinkle in Time.”

This year’s film did not stray from the original book much like more and more films do nowadays. The book and film both feature main characters Meg Murry (portrayed by Storm Reid) and her brother, Charles Wallace (portrayed by Deric McCabe), who are transported through time and space to find their father (portrayed by Chris Pine), who had disappeared four years earlier.

Murry’s life drastically changed after her father’s disappearance, and her grades and efforts reflected this. She was bullied throughout high school about her father’s disappearance and was starting to give up hope that he would ever return.

Murry’s parents were both scientific masterminds with a common interest in finding a way to travel through time and space with the existence of “tesseracts,” a sort of “wrinkle” through time and space.

The quest to find Murry’s father began with the appearance of Mrs. Whatsit (portrayed by Reese Witherspoon), who assures Murry, Wallace and their mother (portrayed by Gugu Mbatha-Raw) of the existence of “tesseracts” and their role in the disappearance of their father.

The quest to find their father starts when the three misses, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who (portrayed by Mindy Kaling) and Mrs. Which (portrayed by Oprah Winfrey) arrive and transport Murry, Wallace and soon-to-be friend and popular kid Calvin O’Keefe (portrayed by Levi Miller) to another planet. The planet is full of jaw-dropping scenery in which the group explore to try and find their father.

When the group realizes that their father is not there, they run into a dark figurine in the sky, which is later referenced as “Camazotz,” where their father had disappeared to all along.

After visiting “Happy Medium” (portrayed by Zach Galifianakis), the group is advised to return home, as they are told their father is most likely in the unknown and dangerous Camazotz, but Murry’s will to find her father redirects the group to the mysterious Camazotz itself. The three Mrs. W’s, who are also transported to Camazotz, have no power in a “dark” area, as their powers only work in areas of “light.” Therefore, after their final words of advice for the children, the three Mrs. W’s tesser back home where they were safe.

After a long journey through the unknown Camazotz, Murry finds her father intending to return home. Wallace is hypnotized by the “It” and becomes evil-willed toward everyone, even his own family and friends.

After a long battle between Murry and Wallace, the evil will in Wallace vanishes after Murry expresses her flaws to him with confidence and smothers him with love (figuratively not literally), something the “It” on Camazotz does not take well.

The group eventually returns home and are set to live a normal and happy life again, with the realization that “wrinkles in time” do exist.

Murry’s role as the protagonist in this film defies one’s expectations and adds a sense of hope that a woman of color plays such a powerful role in the film. Knowing your own flaws and being comfortable in your own skin are crucial to being confident and independent people in our world today, and “A Wrinkle in Time” encourages just that.