74
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertLike all great stories for children, The Secret Garden contains powerful truths just beneath the surface. There is always a level at which the story is telling children about more than just events; it is telling them about the nature of life.
- 90NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenIt is, first and foremost, a visual delight, a Victorian picture book come to life, from its brief prologue in India through its darkly enchanted recreation of Misselthwaite Manor on the Yorkshire moors.
- 90VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyExecuted to near perfection in all artistic departments, this superior adaptation of the perennial favorite novel will find its core public among girls , but should prove satisfying enough to a range of audiences to make it a solid performer for Warner Bros.' family entertainment banner.
- The Secret Garden is as much a movie for adults with keen memories of childhood as it is a children's movie.
- 75Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumAs a children's movie with a fine sense of magic (without fantasy) and a great deal of feeling (without sentimentality), this beats the usual Disney junk hands down, and adults will find it an expert piece of storytelling.
- 75Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonThe Secret Garden unearths a few inventions of its own, it bears its own, quiet charms.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe Secret Garden combines drama, fantasy, and a little bit of light Gothic horror (the old house with its strange noises). The film is visually stunning, from the eerie insides of Misselthwaite Manor to the time-lapse photography of blooming flowers. Zbigniew Preisner's score adds to the atmosphere without ever becoming obvious or intrusive.
- 60Orlando SentinelJay BoyarOrlando SentinelJay BoyarThe movie's dark themes, unhurried pace and talkiness make it something of a gamble for many children. But older children - especially those who have been asking specific questions about death - may find some nourishment in this garden.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThe movie is earnest, heartfelt, and, for all its lavishness, rather plodding.
- 50Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranRather than a fresh breeze, it's the stale air of gilded calculation, the uncomfortable feeling that things are excessively just so, that overhangs much that is genuinely appealing about this film.