The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A collection of four short stories by Roald Dahl is brought to life through a series of vignettes presented as vintage telefilms.
The story
Presented as a series of telefilms that aired on a fictitious UK channel from 1978 to 1981, this anthology features four distinct vignettes based on short stories by Roald Dahl. The film begins with Dahl describing his writing process before transitioning into the stories. Throughout the vignettes, visible stage hands perform scene and costume changes in front of the camera, while the same actors play multiple roles across the different segments. The collection preserves the majority of the original text and narration, creating a unique cinematic experience that blends live performance with stylized storytelling.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film is presented as a series of telefilms that aired in the United Kingdom on the fictitious Channel 7, from 1978 to 1981. It begins with Roald Dahl describing his writing process. The first story follows Henry Sugar, a wealthy bachelor who learns a meditation method from a man named Imdad Khan to see through playing cards. Henry eventually uses this ability to win money at casinos, eventually establishing a network of hospitals and orphanages before dying of a pulmonary embolism. The second story, 'The Swan,' features Peter Watson, who survives a bullying incident involving a rifle and a train, only to be forced into a dangerous stunt involving a swan that results in a surreal visual. The third story, 'The Rat Catcher,' depicts a ratter performing gruesome demonstrations to kill rats at a petrol station to regain respect from a reporter and an attendant. The final story, 'Poison,' involves a man named Harry Pope who panics over a non-existent snake on his body, leading to a confrontation with a local doctor. The film concludes with a spoken-word song based on Dahl's writing tips.
- First release year
- 2024
- Runtime (minutes)
- 88
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Wes Anderson
- Writers
- Wes Anderson · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Benedict Cumberbatch · Henry Sugar; Max Engelman · Harry Pope; Ralph Fiennes · Roald Dahl; Ralph Fiennes · the Policeman; Ralph Fiennes · the Rat Man; Dev Patel · Dr. Chatterjee; Dev Patel · John Winston; Dev Patel · Timber Woods; Ben Kingsley · Imdad Khan; Ben Kingsley · the Dealer; Ben Kingsley · Dr. Ganderbai; Richard Ayoade · Dr. Marshall; Richard Ayoade · the Great Yogi; Richard Ayoade · the Editor/Reporter; Rupert Friend · Peter Watson/Narrator; Rupert Friend · Claud
- Genres
- fantasy; anthology; adventure; comedy
- Themes
- meditation; greed; bullying; superstition
- Tone and mood
- stylized; whimsical; vintage
- Premise and plot tags
- anthology; based on book; short stories
- Source material / true-story basis
- four short stories by Roald Dahl
- Reception
- Roger Moore in his Movie Nation blog gave the film a rating of 3.5/4.
- Reported review scores
- Movie Nation · score: 3.5 · scale: 4
- Production trivia
- It is the second film adaptation of a Dahl work directed by Anderson.; The anthology's title references the short story collection 'The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar & Six More'.; The film was shot in 16 mm film.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…