The Twits (2025): A Delightfully Disgusting Adventure With a Big Heart

Few children’s books have managed to be as gleefully grotesque as Roald Dahl’s The Twits. First published in 1980, the story of a filthy, mean-spirited couple who delight in tormenting animals—and each other—was one of Dahl’s darkest works. It was a fable about cruelty, comeuppance, and the ugliness that grows from within. Now, with Netflix’s 2025 animated adaptation The Twits, directed by Phil Johnston (co-writer of Zootopia and Wreck-It Ralph), this nasty little story gets a technicolor revival that’s equal parts chaotic fun, social satire, and heartwarming moral lesson.

At first glance, The Twits might seem an odd choice for a family-friendly animated film. After all, Dahl’s humor was unapologetically wicked. But Johnston’s adaptation embraces that chaos and filters it through a modern lens, giving audiences a movie that’s not only faithful to Dahl’s spirit but also unexpectedly emotional and timely.

Plot: From Misery to Mayhem

The film follows Mr. and Mrs. Twit, the most repulsive couple in their small town. Mr. Twit (voiced with delightfully gruff nastiness by Greg Davies) is a man of coarse habits, greasy hair, and a beard that doubles as a nest for leftover food. Mrs. Twit (voiced with snarky charm by Natasha Lyonne) is equally vile, delighting in mean-spirited pranks and cruel games. Together, they run “TwitTown,” a garish amusement park that celebrates meanness and chaos.

When a group of orphans, led by the clever and brave Maggie (voiced by Olivia Colman in a warm, dynamic performance), discover the Twits’ plan to turn their town into a theme park of cruelty, they join forces with a colony of intelligent monkeys to take the Twits down. What unfolds is a visually bonkers, slapstick adventure packed with wild gags, musical numbers, and an underlying message about kindness, empathy, and community.

Johnston expands Dahl’s thin original narrative into a full-fledged movie with modern sensibilities. While the book was more a series of vignettes about cruelty and karma, the film adds depth by exploring the consequences of selfishness on a larger scale — turning the Twits into symbols of greed, arrogance, and corporate exploitation.

Animation: Grotesque Has Never Looked So Good

If The Twits proves anything, it’s that ugliness can be beautiful in the right hands. The animation style, overseen by Netflix Animation and Jellyfish Pictures, leans into exaggerated, hand-painted textures and expressive character design that evoke the illustrations of Quentin Blake — Dahl’s longtime artistic collaborator. Every frame feels like a watercolor sketch brought to manic life.

The Twits themselves are masterclasses in disgusting detail: Mr. Twit’s beard looks like a compost pile in motion; Mrs. Twit’s wiry hair and sneer twist in rhythm with her mood swings. And yet, there’s something magnetic about them. The film’s palette — vibrant oranges, greens, and browns — gives everything an off-kilter warmth, making the grotesque strangely endearing.

This visual world feels tactile, lived-in, and unafraid to be messy — a welcome departure from the glossy perfection of many contemporary animated films. The Twits’ world looks sticky, muddy, and utterly alive, like Dahl’s imagination leapt right off the page.

Performances That Bring Chaos to Life

Voice acting is where The Twits truly shines. Greg Davies and Natasha Lyonne commit fully to their monstrous roles, turning despicable behavior into comedic gold. Davies’s booming laughter and Lyonne’s raspy snarl create an oddly charming chemistry — they’re vile, yes, but hilariously so.

Olivia Colman gives heart to the film as Maggie, the orphan who dares to stand up to them. Her voice carries the emotional core of the story, offering a gentle counterbalance to the Twits’ mania. The supporting cast, including Richard Ayoade as a sarcastic monkey and Matt Berry as an opportunistic mayor, add sharp humor and wit to the mix.

Humor With Bite — and a Message

One of the most impressive feats of this adaptation is how it manages to be both faithful to Dahl’s nastiness and still suitable for younger audiences. The slapstick is exaggerated, the insults are silly, and the gross-out humor never feels mean-spirited. Beneath all the laughs and absurdity, The Twits carries a surprisingly contemporary message: cruelty and greed might win for a while, but kindness and cooperation always outlast them.

The movie’s social commentary is subtle but unmistakable. The Twits’ obsession with control and profit mirrors modern anxieties about selfishness, power, and environmental neglect. By turning the Twits’ amusement park into a metaphor for greed and exploitation, Johnston updates Dahl’s world for today’s generation without diluting its bite.

There’s a brilliant scene midway through the film where the orphans and animals band together to dismantle the Twits’ toxic empire, replacing chaos with compassion. It’s both hilarious and heartfelt, with a musical number that feels straight out of Matilda the Musical.

Direction and Tone: Balancing Anarchy and Heart

Phil Johnston’s background in smart, socially aware animation (Zootopia, Ralph Breaks the Internet) serves him well here. He knows how to balance outrageous comedy with meaningful storytelling. He keeps the tone delightfully anarchic but ensures the emotional beats land. The pacing is brisk, with visual jokes packed into nearly every frame — yet there’s room for tenderness too.

By the film’s end, you’re left not just laughing at the Twits’ misfortunes but reflecting on how easy it is for small cruelties to grow into something monstrous. Johnston’s direction gives the story emotional heft without losing its wicked sparkle.

Music and Sound: A Carnival of Chaos

The soundtrack, composed by Michael Giacchino, is a zany mix of jazz, carnival tunes, and mischievous orchestral flourishes. Each character has their own musical motif, from the Twits’ bombastic brassy theme to Maggie’s hopeful piano melody. The score enhances the mood swings of the film — loud, funny, and occasionally tender.

Sound design also plays a huge role in the comedy. The squelch of mud, the buzz of flies, the creak of rusted carnival rides — every disgusting detail is amplified for maximum comic effect. It’s a feast for the ears as much as the eyes.

Faithful to Dahl — but Forward-Looking

Longtime Roald Dahl fans will find plenty of nods to the author’s work — dark humor, poetic justice, and a gleeful disdain for bullies and hypocrites. Yet The Twits doesn’t simply retell the old story. It expands it into something larger, giving the world of Dahl a modern heartbeat.

The moral message — that kindness is strength, and cruelty only destroys — feels especially resonant in today’s climate. The movie manages to entertain children while giving adults something deeper to chew on.

Final Thoughts: Ugly, Hilarious, and Full of Heart

Netflix’s The Twits is a triumph of tone — gleefully gross, riotously funny, and surprisingly touching. It honors Dahl’s mischievous spirit while delivering a story with modern relevance and visual brilliance.

You come for the slapstick and stay for the soul. By the end, even as the Twits get their just desserts (in a delightfully grotesque finale), you can’t help but feel that the world needs more stories like this — stories that dare to be weird, wild, and wonderfully human.