Golden tickets, a huge factory, and tons of chocolate. Have you ever wondered how Willy Wonka started it all and rose to fame? 

Wonka, the amazing new prequel to the Willy Wonka movies we all know and love, is about a young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) coming to a city in Europe to sell his chocolate. On the first night there, he stays at a sketchy hotel, which he will later regret. In the morning, Willy finds himself in debt with the hotel. 

As he begins to sell his chocolate, the big candy companies begin to view him as a threat. On the run from the hotel owners and corrupt police, he must find a way to continue selling his wares under the radar.

One of the best things about Wonka is the music and dancing. Some songs are from previous movies, but a lot of them are new, such as “You’ve Never Had Chocolate Like This,” “Sweet Tooth,” “Scrub Scrub,” and many more. Chalamet and the rest of the cast are very talented singers, and the songs are really catchy. 

Wonka is an entertaining movie for the whole family to watch. It also has themes that keep it interesting and relatable for adults; for example, Willy Wonka never would’ve gotten where he did without his mom. She used to make chocolate for him and told him about the shopping mall in Europe where he went to sell his chocolate. I saw it with my friend and her grandma, and we all loved it. 

My favorite thing about Wonka is the connection between this movie and the other ones. These include the origin story of the establishment of his iconic factory, as well as how Willy first encountered an Oompa Loompa.

One bit of backstory that I found to be more subtle was the golden piece of paper in the chocolate bar Willy’s mom made, which points to the premise of the other movies, the golden tickets.

Wonka is a great movie for most anyone to watch because you don’t have to have watched either of the previous movies to understand it. My only note: if you don’t enjoy movies that have a lot of singing, you may not like it.