The BFG (2016)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A young orphan girl befriends a gentle giant and must help him stop a group of man-eating giants.
The story
One night, Sophie, a smart and brave ten-year-old girl living in a London orphanage, catches sight of an elderly giant. The giant captures her and takes her to his residence in Giant Country. He tells Sophie that he took her so that she would never reveal the existence of giants to anyone. The giant creates a nightmare to prevent her from escaping, fearing she might be eaten by larger giants. The next morning, Sophie is nearly discovered by Fleshlumpeater, the leader of the man-eating giants, but the elderly giant drives Fleshlumpeater away with a foul-tasting vegetable known as the snozzcumber. She persuades the elderly giant to take her to Dream Country.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being taken to Giant Country, Sophie befriends the elderly giant, whom she calls the BFG. They travel to London where the BFG uses a dream trumpet to share good dreams with children. However, the BFG's presence is nearly discovered by other man-eating giants. After a close call, they return to Giant Country, but Sophie loses her blanket, alerting the other giants to her presence. The BFG leaves her at her orphanage to protect her, but she remains determined. Sophie and the BFG eventually team up to stop the man-eating giants. They devise a plan to deliver a nightmare to Queen Elizabeth II, who then helps them lead an army to Giant Country. There, Sophie releases a nightmare that causes the man-eating giants to feel guilt, and they are captured by the military. Sophie is adopted by the Queen's maid, while the BFG returns to his life in Giant Country, where he continues to share dreams and hears Sophie's voice when she feels lonely.
- Original title
- Roald Dahl's The BFG
- First release year
- 2016
- Runtime (minutes)
- 118
- Production countries
- United States; United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Steven Spielberg
- Writers
- Melissa Mathison · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Mark Rylance · Big Friendly Giant (BFG); Ruby Barnhill · Sophie; Penelope Wilton · Queen Elizabeth II; Jemaine Clement · Fleshlumpeater; Rebecca Hall · Mary; Rafe Spall · Mr. Tibbs; Bill Hader · Bloodbottler
- Genres
- fantasy; adventure
- Themes
- friendship; bravery
- Tone and mood
- whimsical; family-friendly
- Setting
- London and Giant Country
- Premise and plot tags
- fantasy; adventure; monster; giants
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1982 novel by Roald Dahl
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics but was considered a box office failure in North America.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 74% · scale: percentage · review count: 308; Metacritic · score: 66 · scale: 100 · review count: 47
- Production trivia
- The film was the last one written by Melissa Mathison before her death in 2015.; It was the first Disney-branded film directed by Steven Spielberg.; The film was the second adaptation of the novel following the 1989 animated film.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…