19 Reasons Why You'll Believe This Theory About Matilda

The theory is that the title character in Matilda (1996) is actually the biological daughter of her teacher, Jennifer Honey (Embeth Davidtz). She was conceived when Miss Honey was about twenty years old, not long after she escaped from her aunt Trunchbull’s house. Because she had so little money, she was forced to give her daughter up for adoption. While it’s not clear if Miss Honey has superpowers herself, superpowers run in her family. Matilda can move objects with her mind, and Miss Trunchbull (Pam Ferris), her aunt, has superhuman strength.

When Matilda (Mara Wilson) was born, the Wormwoods adopted her for financial reasons. Harry (Danny DeVito), a used car salesman, knew he could have stolen car parts shipped to his home if he had someone there to sign for them. It would be too risky to have them delivered directly to his place of business. Using stolen car parts, Mr. Wormwood is able to spend less on the cars he sells, and therefore generate a higher profit.

Matilda is not Harry and Zinnia’s biological daughter.

1. In the opening scene where the Wormwoods take Matilda home from the hospital, Zinnia (Rhea Perlman) looks thin as ever. She is also in full makeup, wearing very tight pants, carrying a large purse, and walking at a fast pace. This is not someone who just went through labor. She didn’t give birth to Matilda. They are adopting the newborn.

2. In one scene, Harry gets mad at Matilda for reading and says, “Are you in this family?” He asks twice, but she doesn’t respond. Matilda, the child with cognitive superpowers, knows this isn’t her biological family.

3. There’s an obvious difference between the way Harry and Zinnia treat Matilda and the way they treat their son, Mikey. They let him go to a normal school, and Harry doesn’t refer to him as a “mistake” or “Melinda” or any other incorrect name for that matter. Also, the narrator says of the Wormwoods, “they barely noticed they had a daughter.” Notice he says “a daughter”, not “children”. Is this all because they really care about the wellbeing of their biological son, but not that of some kid they just adopted with an ulterior motive?

The Wormwoods adopted Matilda so they could make more money.

4. The Wormwoods care about money more than anything else. Harry and Zinnia are visibly unhappy the day they bring Matilda home from the hospital, but are clearly happy the day Harry makes over $10,000 selling used cars, as well as the day Zinnia wins the double bingo.

5. Not only do the Wormwoods care a lot about money, but Harry is shown going to questionable lengths to make more of it. The day he takes Mikey and Matilda to the shop, he shows them how he will use any means possible to drive up his total profit on a used car. For example, he uses superglue to attach bumpers and turns the numbers back on the odometers. If any type of person would adopt a child just so she can sign for delivered car parts, it's this type.

6. Early in the movie, Harry walks into Matilda’s dimly lit bedroom and asks, “Any packages come today?” Harry thinks she’s just four years old at this point. Matilda informs him that she’s six and a half and should be in school. He responds, “School? Out of the question. Who would be here to sign for the packages? We can’t leave valuable packages sitting out on the doorstep!”

Matilda is Miss Honey’s biological daughter.

7. Young Miss Honey definitely resembles Matilda.

8. Since Miss Honey is Matilda’s mother, that means Miss Trunchbull is Matilda’s great aunt. It makes sense if you think about it. Superpowers run in this family. While Matilda’s superpower is cognitive, Miss Trunchbull has superhuman strength.

9. The narrator says of Miss Honey, “Her life was not as simple and beautiful as it seemed. She had a deep, dark secret. Though it caused her great pain, she did not let it interfere with her teaching.” I think he’s talking about more than just being related to Miss Trunchbull.

10. This narration almost immediately transitions into a personal connection between Matilda and Miss Honey. They talk about the love they share for reading Charles Dickens, but not before something else important happens.

11. Miss Honey tells the class, “Soon you’ll be able to do any multiplication, whether it’s 2 x 7 or 13 x 379.” The class laughs at the second example, but Matilda immediately responds with the correct answer. Miss Honey can already see that this girl looks like a younger version of herself. Now she knows this girl has superpowers, which run in Miss Honey’s family. At this point, the teacher figures that this is the daughter she gave up for adoption a few years before.

12. Miss Honey might be a wonderfully caring teacher, but the things she does for Matilda go beyond that. The night of Matilda’s first day at school, Miss Honey shows up at her house with advanced work. That’s pretty unusual. The teacher also saves Matilda from the chokey, puts herself in harm’s way to save Matilda when they sneak into Trunchbull’s house, and has her over to her house after school. Does she invite any of her other students over? I don’t think so.

13. The day that Miss Honey has Matilda over to her house, she tells Matilda that things will be very different for her one day. She might already be trying to come up with a plan to adopt her back.

14. The first time she meets Mr. Wormwood, she tells him, “If you think watching some rotten TV show is more important than your daughter, then maybe you shouldn’t be a parent.” I think she means “maybe you shouldn’t be my daughter’s parent.”

15. Let’s talk about Lissy, the doll that Miss Honey wants to get back from her aunt Trunchbull. Is she not a symbol of the lost child that Jennifer Honey has been trying to get back? It’s a little girl that Miss Honey had no choice but to leave in the care of someone awful. Sound familiar? Also, she doesn’t look unlike Matilda.

16. Miss Honey says she had no money after she ran away from her aunt. This is probably why she had to give up Matilda for adoption.

17. When Matilda is at Miss Honey’s cottage, she asks her, “Why don’t you run away?” Miss Honey responds, “I can’t abandon my children. And if I couldn’t teach, I’d have nothing at all.” First of all, it sounds like Miss Honey might have decided to become a teacher because she thought it was the closest thing to being a mother. On top of that, she might have even anticipated the possibility of her daughter walking into her classroom one day.

18. Near the end of the film, Harry and Zinnia come to Miss Honey’s new/old house that she just got back from Miss Trunchbull. They’re coming to get Matilda because they’re moving to Guam. Miss Honey gets upset, and tells the Wormwoods that she loves Matilda and wants to adopt her. Only fitting, right? Also, Matilda just whips out the adoption papers on the spot when Miss Honey offers. Where did she get adoption papers? Has she been adopted before?

19. In the final moments, the narrator says, “The happiest part of the story is that Matilda and Miss Honey each got what they had always wanted - a loving family.” Translation: Mother and daughter are finally reunited.