From an endearing TikTok trend to the dreadful AI parodies that have inundated social media over the past few months, it seems the general public had embraced 2023 as the year of Wes Anderson before his newest feature film, the magnificent Asteroid City, even hit theaters. Known for his penchant for pastels, symmetry and the use of deadpan comedy courtesy of his frequent acting collaborators, the director’s style has become instantly recognizable. As ubiquitous as he is, most discussions of Anderson’s work still come short of acknowledging its startling humanism, which tends to go unnoticed under the veneer of his quirky tone and visuals. From the dysfunctional family in The Royal Tenenbaums to the morbid young protagonists of Moonrise Kingdom, many of his films deal with themes like affliction and the loss of innocence. Asteroid City is no exception, as our very own Movies Editor, Jacob Oller, wrote earlier this year. Anderson’s newest collaboration with Netflix, which sees him adapt four stories by British author Roald Dahl into shorts, is proof of the same.
Equally consistent is Anderson’s love for the process, with many of his films acting as tributes to storytelling in all its forms. The Grand Budapest Hotel tells a story-within-a-story-within-a-story-within-a-story, something Asteroid City also does, across multiple media channels including television and theatre. Prior to that, 2021’s polarizing The French Dispatch was a touching anthology watching the staff at a publication modeled after The New Yorker reminiscing on the process of writing their favorite features.
The Netflix shorts are a delightful continuation of this trend, each installment both indulging in and interrogating the aforementioned media, staging each film like a play (complete with diegetic narration of the events taking place), while also being self-conscious of their status as adaptations of Dahl’s written work. Although they vary in quality and content, all four act as worthy tributes to the late author, as well as fascinating entries into Anderson’s own canon.
Read on to see our ranking of Wes Anderson’s Netflix shorts, as well as an assessment of each:
4. Poison
Despite being the least successful of the bunch, Poison has a few good things going for it. Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel and Ben Kingsley all display the wooden affect of your classic Anderson character quite well, making them formidable additions to the director’s recurring cast even if he utilizes them better in The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar (more on that later). It’s also well-paced, taking full advantage of its contained setting and coasting on a creative premise (an Englishman’s associate and doctor rush to save him from a poisonous snake that has made it into his bed one evening). Still, the production design is quite conventional for someone with Anderson’s visual flair: The bedchamber Cumberbatch lies in is a far cry from the intricate sets where his Henry Sugar character resides, and even falls short of the minimalist-by-comparison structures that litter The Swan and The Rat Catcher. Out of the four films, it’s also the clumsiest execution of the project’s ongoing stage motif, with the obvious omission of a snake prop eliminating the film’s central threat, making what should be an exciting endeavor fairly tedious. I can’t help but compare it to The Rat Catcher which, despite showing very little of said rodent (there’s even a moment where Fiennes mimes holding the creature), nevertheless features a stop-motion rat and even has Rupert Friend stand in for the animal at one point. By contrast, Poison doesn’t make the longest-lasting impression, even if it’s nice to see Anderson operate on a more grounded (albeit less polarizing) level.
3. The Rat Catcher
I’d wager The Rat Catcher to be a challenging watch for the average viewer, but maintain that those who give it half a chance are in for a lot of fun. Based on a rather disturbing Dahl story which reckons with the more troubling side of human nature, the film sees a reporter (Richard Ayoade) and mechanic (Rupert Friend) get more than they bargained for when they question a so-called “Rat Man” (Ralph Fiennes) about his pest control methods. Coupled with Dahl’s descriptive prose, the frustrating stiltedness of Ayoade’s barely modulated, first-person narration heightens the suspense of this tense little comedy-thriller. I, for one, could feel my opinion of it changing in real time—and I suspect I won’t be alone in this. As such, there are several reasons The Rat Catcher winds up being a delight: First, it’s the closest Anderson has ever edged to horror, which makes it formally fascinating. Second, Fiennes seems to be having the time of his life playing the Rat Man. In dual roles as both the titular pest control worker and Dahl himself, he’s an absolute joy here, even when portraying one of the most repulsive characters Anderson has ever put to screen. Like The Swan, the story of The Rat Catcher is quite off-putting, but through the dark humor of this kooky presentation, the director purposefully (and mercifully) distances us from any semblance of realism, resulting in a surprisingly pleasant watch.
2. The Swan
With The Swan, we see Anderson operating on a level we’re not used to seeing from him. Here, the first-person narration (performed by Rupert Friend) tells the story of a precocious young boy who gets tormented by older bullies, and the protagonist, Peter Watson, is played both by Friend and by child actor Asa Jennings. Though it runs the risk of frustrating the uninitiated, with the older performer’s dual acting and narration alienating viewers from the story’s sobering subject matter, the framing device makes more and more sense as the film progresses, resulting in a story that will break your heart and make you examine the way we engage with fiction. Although Anderson is no stranger to dark themes, The Swan turns what we’ve recently come to expect from the director on its head, offering a sucker-punch to the gut in place of a happy ending. Perhaps it’s the unorthodox narrative device or Peter’s resilience that keeps us in denial. Or, perhaps it’s Anderson’s signature quirk, coupled with the amusing moments he sprinkles in throughout. Regardless, The Swan’s steady progression into tragedy becomes obvious in hindsight, which makes Anderson’s out-maneuvering of our expectations that much more impressive—and the film’s ending that much more poignant.
1. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
I wouldn’t be the first to note that with each new film, Anderson has become more meticulous, more ambitious and more self-indulgent. I say this at risk of sounding like a detractor—like many of the director’s fans, I take pleasure in seeing his form evolve over the years. Centering on a man (Benedict Cumberbatch) whose wealthy and unfulfilling life is upended when he discovers a guru who can see without using his eyes (Ben Kingsley), The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is indeed wonderful—a heartwarming tale about finding one’s purpose by helping others. As redundant as it feels to say at this point, it’s also visually stunning—and easily the most impressive short to come out of this endeavor. From the naïve jungle composition to a sequence reminiscent of The Grand Budapest Hotel’s pastry-like aesthetic, the film feels like a picture book come to life. This, of course, is fitting, since the movie references Dahl quite a bit (Ralph Fiennes plays the author in a fun bit of intertextuality) and the protagonist also makes his discovery through a book. Packaged tightly at just 39 minutes, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is an artistic and narrative feat, and a breezy watch that, much like Asteroid City, results in one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences of the year.
Ursula Muñoz S. is a critic, journalist and MFA candidate at Boston University who has previously written for news and entertainment outlets in Canada and the United States. Her work has appeared at Xtra, Cineaste, Bright Wall/Dark Room and more. For further reading, feel free to follow her on Substack and X, where she muses about Taylor Swift and Pedro Almodóvar (among other things).