I do not know about you, but before watching To Olivia (2021), I would have told you that any movie about Roald Dahl (Hugh Bonneville) would have been whimsical.  Why might I have such an opinion?  Because he authored Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964).  Most of you will recognize that story better from the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) film version of the beloved children’s book.  There were three main reasons for the title change.  The most obvious of these is because the title character was played by Gene Wilder, who stole the show, as the saying goes.  Perhaps a bigger, underlying factor was the fact that the Quaker Oats company was releasing Wonka Bars, and sought to capitalize on brand recognition.  Still, the strangest rationale for the switch was the ongoing Vietnam War.  Had they stuck with Dahl’s initial appellation, they feared that “Charlie” would conjure too many connections to the nickname American soldiers used for the forces they faced in Southeast Asia.  I guess none of this was a problem when they remade the film and restored the original title.  If any of this seems unexpected, now you have a sense of what I felt as I watched To Olivia.

What you might expect from a movie like To Olivia is for the first shot to feature a bowl of peaches.  Roald had written James and the Giant Peach, and he is touring the country, reading the story to children.  Because sales are not what he hopes, he has to endure the condescension of Pete Perkins (Michael Jibson), father to one of the kids.  As a way of getting even, Roald bets the heckler that he will be able to convince famous Hollywood actress Patricia Neal (Keeley Hawes) to go home with him.  What Pete does not know is that Patricia and Roald are married.  His career is on a downturn, and hers has taken a secondary function since they have moved to rural England and started a family.  Nonetheless, they appear to enjoy one another’s company.  Among the offspring, Olivia “Livvy” Dahl (Darcey Ewart) is Roald’s favorite.  Still, we see them all having fun playing make-believe together until the children are put to bed.  This is when the drinking, and the fighting begin in earnest.  Patricia cannot let go of her past, and Roald increasingly retreats into a bottle as he writes.  By the way, this is the period during which he is writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, doing so in a secluded shed in the garden.  Yet, they find a way to put aside their differences for the sake of their children.  This is going to be tested when Livvy comes down with measles.  After being bedridden for a day, she is forced to go to the hospital where she dies after developing encephalitis.  Patricia and Roald are devastated, but Roald especially so.  Indeed, on the day of the funeral, he refuses to mingle with guests during the wake at their house, choosing instead to pack up his late daughter’s belonging in a chest.  This is the first of many arguments, including with their second oldest daughter, Tessa Dahl (Isabella Jonsson), who claims that one the dolls being stored belongs to her.  In general, he is unresponsive, except when anyone does anything he thinks is unworthy of Livvy’s memory.  He even takes his anger out on Tessa when she releases birds once belonging to Livvy, or when he accuses Tessa of having a tea party and leaving a space for Livvy.  Patricia points out how terrible of a father and husband Roald is being, so he tries to make it up to Tessa by cooking with her.  However, after a few minutes, he goes catatonic, leaving little Tessa to tend to the stove.  Luckily, Patricia gets home in time to put out the fire, but she cannot get through to her husband.  It is while looking at an old photograph of his school days that Roald notices his old school master, Geoffrey Fisher (Geoffrey Palmer), and decides to seek the Anglican minister’s advice.  I will have more to say about their conversation later, but for the moment, suffice to say that it gets Roald to confront his despair over losing Livvy.  He is not completely healed, though, as he reacts poorly when an old Hollywood acquaintance of Patricia’s, Martin Ritt (Conleth Hill), comes over to England to discuss a role for her.  Roald criticizes Patricia even entertaining the thought of working again after Livvy’s death, but she remains defiant.  The tipping point comes when he angrily tears up his copy first draft of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over disgust at her praise.  Soon thereafter, she takes their children to the United States to begin filling the role held for her.  As Roald is left to wander the Buckinghamshire woods alone, he sees the birds release by Tessa congregating in an area Livvy used to like to explore.  It is evidence enough for him that she is watching over him, and he flies to Los Angeles for forgiveness.  Meanwhile she is trying to win a part in an upcoming film starring Paul Newman (Sam Heughan).  Their first read together does not go well, and she returns to the house they are using believing that she has ruined her chances of landing the job.  Roald gets her to change her mind through some reverse psychology, which reminds her that she knows the character and all its intricacies.  With this newfound confidence, she returns to Paul with a fresh perspective and nails her lines.  It propels her to getting an Oscar, which we see Roald carving out of a carrot back in England.

In between Hollywood and the Academy Awards announcement at the end of To Olivia, we see Patricia reading the final draft of Roald’s aforementioned masterpiece.  After watching the movie, or reading my synopsis, you might think it a small miracle that they get to this point.  The film is based on a true story, and what happens after the couple years depicted here does not paint a hopeful picture.  Not too long after the events of the movie, Roald begins an extramarital affair that culminates in divorce from Patricia in 1983.  What sort of interests me, though, about their problems is that they seek help from a Christian source.  One of the functions of priests in their parishes is to provide a form of counseling, including for married couples experiencing difficulties.  It is reasonable to assume that the Anglican man of the cloth in the form of Geoffrey is being called upon to ease the tension between Patricia and Roald.  The main bone of contention is his discussion of Heaven.  Specifically, he says that there are no dogs allowed in Heaven.  This infuriates Roald because their pet had been Livvy’s favorite.  It is difficult to hear such lines if you are a practicing Christian.  As far as the Church is concerned, we do not teach anything as specific as there are no dogs in Heaven.  Rather than saying yes or no on such a trivial matter, Catholicism emphasizes the overwhelming grace that comes from spending an eternity with God, which is a better definition of what is Heaven.  The fact that Geoffrey would say so definitively that there is no place for pets with God is emblematic of the negative, dogmatic (pun intended) outlook non-Christians have of the faithful.  God’s love is so much bigger than such considerations, and we need to remember this fact.

I also think watching To Olivia is worth some consideration, if you can take some tragedy.  It does end on a hopeful note, including with some particular resonance today.  I will not say what it is, but I think what happens with the title character should speak for itself.