Come Away

A tragic accident sunders a happy family in this reimagined fairy tale set against the English countryside. Directed by Brenda Chapman (Pixar's Brave), Come Away concocts a fantasy scenario where Peter Pan and Lewis Carroll's Alice are young siblings navigating loss by escaping to their respective worlds of Neverland and Wonderland. Anchored by effortlessly gravitational performances from Angelina Jolie and David Oyelowo as grieving parents, the film strives to enchant by stitching together family drama tropes with beloved literary worlds. The strides that it makes in terms of representation are notable, reframing key literary figures as multicultural (see also The Personal History of David Copperfield). Yet, for all its ambition and manufactured charm, this lands as a rather lacklustre melodrama.