After it’s highly anticipated premiere December 25, 2019, Little Women has completely shattered critics’ expectations for the movie. Critics were skeptical about whether the film would survive in a modern-day world. With mostly women expected to view the movie, the film would have half the audience as most modern movies with their budget and would therefore make half the money. While chick flicks, which are also marketed toward a female audience, are still successful, critics were unsure whether Little Women would be able to pull its weight in the box offices, especially with other highly-anticipated movies, such as The Rise of Skywalker, premiering within a few days of Little Women.

Critics were proved wrong when fans of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel flooded into theaters. Being a huge fan of the novel myself, I rushed into theaters December 26 eager to see the movie adaptation for myself.

I had high expectations for the movie and was not disappointed. 

From when I first read Little Women in fourth grade, I instantly fell in love with the characters. The novel revolves around the life of four sisters and their stories about their childhood and young adult life. Each character from the novel displays different personalities and interests so that every girl can relate to at least one character. I instantly loved Jo March. She has boy-ish quirks and charisthma that I could connect to. 

Saoirse Ronan, who plays Jo in the 2019 adaptation, was able to capture the very essence of Jo and portrays her perfectly in the movie. Alongside Ronan, actresses Emma Watson (playing Meg March), Florence Pugh (playing Amy March), and Eliza Scanlen (playing Beth March) all triumphed in bringing their classic characters to life.  

Author Louisa May Alcott was not satisfied with the way her novel ended. Modeling her spit-fire heroine after herself, she wanted Jo to mirror herself and not get married. The message is that you yourself are enough and you don’t need a man to be complete, an unheard message for women when the novel was published in the late 1860s. 

That message did not sit well with her publisher who gave her an ultimatum: either marry Jo or the novel won’t be published. 

Unlike previous movie adaptations of Little Women, director Greta Gerwig decided to change the ending to go with Alcott’s wishes and please her fans. 

This alternative ending is sure to please both Little Women fans angered by the original ending and those who liked the original ending. 

My favorite part of the movie was not a scene from the movie at all. Instead, it was the atmosphere of the theater throughout the whole movie. Sitting in front of me were a group of seven elderly women who walked into the theater with an insane amount of popcorn. Behind me sat a group of about five kindergarteners with their parents. Scattered in the theater were a few fathers watching the movie with their daughters. The movie was enjoyed by all types of people. 

During sad parts of the movie, the entire theater was crying, and if not, they were at least sniffling and trying their best not to cry. During the most cheerful part of the movie, everyone was laughing. Often times, we were smiling while our eyes watered.

 At one of the saddest parts of the movie, I turned around to make sure I wasn’t the only one sobbing. Behind me, a father picked up his little kindergartener from her seat next to him and sat her on his lap. Then he just hugged her for a few minutes. 

That was my favorite part. 

Little Women managed to touch every single person in that theater. The whole theater laughed as one and we cried as one. 

Little Women is a complete masterpiece. The scenes were visually appealing and the casting was perfect. From the very beginning, the audience related to these four girls and instantly felt connected to them. Like any great artist, director Greta Gerwig pulled on these emotions and created an emotional, impactful movie.

Greta Gerwig, I applaud you.