In 1868, Louisa May Alcott introduced the world to Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy in her semi-autobiographical novel “Little Women”. Alcott’s novel was almost immediately met with huge commercial success and has gone on to be retold generation after generation. First adapted for the screen in 1917 as a silent film, Little Women has gone on to become a cultural reflection of its times, a new version unspooling every twenty years or so to capture the attention of new young audiences. From 1933’s Katharine Hepburn cut to 1994’s Gillian Armstrong take (whose all-star cast included Winona Ryder, Christian Bale, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon, and Kirsten Dunst), Little Women is a story destined to play on repeat. And, in this one such example, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

Little Women, by one Greta Gerwig, is the eighth such adaptation and a truly worthy one at that. As a mere sophomore filmmaker, Gerwig’s work shows an elegance that can defy seasoned veterans of their craft; her scene-setting is simply tremendous, the actress-turned-director displaying a sharp eye for blending hearth and heart. Her setting are luscious and lived in, as deeply decadent as the centuries-old characters she conjures back to life. For a movie that’s been reproduced this many times, Gerwig finds no shortage of reasons for her particular version to exist and brings it to life in immaculate fashion. A quick crash course in story for the Little Women uninitiated: It’s the waning days of the American Civil War and the four teenaged March sisters grow up socked between neighbors of great fortune and those entirely without. The headstrong Jo (played here by the unwaveringly talented Saoirse Ronan) is the de facto leader of the family, brash and uninterested in being “lady-like”. She is the recalcitrant soul of the story and much beloved by her family for it, despite older sister Meg (Emma Watson) sometimes looking upon her rebellious habits with bemused consternation. Kid sister Amy (Florence Pugh, excellent here) though sees Jo as a constant rival, and as both the brat of the family who still fits the traditional female mold best, she prepares her whole life to be married off to a rich someday suitor. Beth (Eliza Scanlen, unrecognizable following her zesty turn in Sharp Objects) is the best of the bunch, following in her mother’s philanthropic literal-shirt-off-her-back ways.

The four actresses Gerwig cast are simply aces in their respective roles, each stepping beautifully into the particularities of the individual while informing the larger sense of group. The warmth, bitterness, jealousies, and enduring affection the ensemble radiates towards each other exudes that distinct aura of family, where even the most rage-inducing action is laced with undeniable love. Complimented by a supporting branch of talent that includes the unflappable Laura Dern as the March matriarch known as “Marmee”; their super-salty aunt played to perfection by Meryl Streep; Bob Odenkirk, charming til the day he dies; Tracy Letts, smartly cast as a conniving publisher; and Chris Cooper back on the big screen after what feels like a small eternity, and boy is it good to have him. Timothée Chalamet is here too as a male foil to all the little lady antics and I could spend an entire paragraph writing about how good he is, but just take my word for it.

The outstanding ensemble is matched by Gerwig’s confident direction, her innate skill as an actor’s director matched by an elegant sense of craftsmanship. Gerwig extends a true sense of polish to every element of the film, a feat that is truly remarkable for a director of her relative inexperience, Her command over the technical elements are most impressive, surely enough to turn the heads of many a guild come time for handing out all those techie awards. From the extravagant costumes to the picturesque production design, Little Women is just a feast for the senses, particularly when there are actual feasts involved.

Despite the fact that Little Women as a story has its share of melodramatic trauma, Gerwig finds new and interesting ways to delivers a wallop or two in the emotional stopping power department, a few at least sure to inspire “allergic” watchers to reach for the tissue box. Gerwig too smartly juxtaposes past with present in a narratively interesting manner, mirroring events from the jejune glow of childhood against the harder, blunted reality of adulthood, another example of her manipulating the two-part nature of the material to give it new life and a more compelling modern packaging.

Although Little Women is not by nature a movie made for a 30-year old dude, I found myself constant engrossed in Gerwig’s interpretation of Alcott’s story. Perhaps Little Women was always ahead of its time but Gerwig’s savvy modernization of Jo’s brand of proto-feminism is perfectly suited to the (what unfortunately is now known as the) #MeToo era, the adaptation brandishes a warm message of female empowerment that champions women’s minds and aspirations as well as their hearts. With its positive message smuggled amidst a genuinely affecting tale of the domestic drama, this is a movie that not only makes you feel good but one you genuinely feel good about watching.

CONCLUSION: As excellent a PG-rated familial holiday film as anyone could dream up, Greta Gerwig’s rendition of ‘Little Women’ is a supremely well-acted and sumptuously realized modernization that manages a powerful rebranding of the novel’s message while remaining deeply satisfying as a slice of domestic drama. Impossible to dislike.