| Director | Alfonso Cuarón |
|---|---|
| Budget | $17 million |
| Box office | $10 million |
In 1914, a kind-hearted young girl named Sara Crewe lives in India with her widowed father Richard, a wealthy British Army Officer who shares her love for stories of myths and magic. Called in to serve in the Great War, Richard enrolls her at the all-girls boarding school in New York City which her late mother had attended. It is run by haughty and spiteful headmistress Miss Maria Minchin and her kindly sister Amelia.
Instructing Miss Minchin to spare no expense for Sara's comfort, Richard furnishes the school's largest suite and leaves Sara with a locket once owned by her mother and a doll named Emily. These he tells her will keep them connected through magic. Although stifled by Miss Minchin’s strictness, Sara becomes popular among the girls, including African-American scullery maid Becky, for her kindness and powerful imagination. In her spare time, she writes to Richard. He gets caught in a gas attack while trying to save fellow soldier John Randolph in the trenches.
Hoping to extort more money from Richard, Miss Minchin throws Sara a lavish birthday party but Richard's solicitor Mr. Barrow arrives with news that he has been killed in battle; the British government has seized his assets, leaving Sara penniless. Miss Minchin moves Sara to the school's attic with Becky to work as a servant and confiscates her belongings, including the locket, allowing her to keep only Emily and a book.
Though her life is bleak, Sara remains kind to others but gets her revenge on Lavinia Herbert, the school bully. Charles Randolph, the elderly neighbor who lives near the school, receives word that his son John has been declared missing in action while fighting in Europe. Ramdas, Charles' Indian associate, comes to notice Sara from the neighboring attic, overhearing her imaginative stories. When a wounded soldier suffering from amnesia is misidentified as John, Ramdas encourages Charles to take the man in.
Meanwhile, Sara's friends sneak into Miss Minchin’s office and recover her locket, visiting Sara that night to hear her tales of Prince Rama. After catching Sara with the other girls, Miss Minchin punishes her and has Becky locked up in the attic for an entire day. However, Sara stands up to Miss Minchin’s cruelty with Richard's belief that "all girls are princesses" regardless of their lot in life. She later comforts Becky by imagining a feast and fine clothes for them. The next day, they awaken to find that the dream has come true, with their attic secretly transformed by Ramdas.
With Sara's encouragement, Amelia runs away with Frances the milkman, with whom she is in love. Later, Miss Minchin discovers that the locket is missing. Confronting Sara in the attic, she accuses her of "stealing" the finery left by Ramdas and viciously locks Sara in her room while she summons the police. With Becky's help, Sara narrowly escapes by making a perilous climb over to the Randolph house. As Miss Minchin and the police search for her, Sara discovers that her father Richard is the recovering soldier but suffering from amnesia, he does not recognize her. Although Miss Minchin clearly recognizes Richard, she instead lies by callously saying that Sara has "no father". As Sara is dragged away by the police to be deported to the United Kingdom, Ramdas helps Richard regain his memory. Outside, Richard saves her and the two are happily reunited while Miss Minchin, defeated, angrily walks away.
Sometime later, Charles has taken over the school, now a much happier place for the girls, and has found peace in knowing that Richard tried to save John. Richard's fortune has been restored, and he has adopted Becky. As punishment for her vile mistreatment of Sara and the other girls and other crimes, Miss Minchin is reduced to working for Jim, a young chimney sweep she mistreated earlier. Sara gives Emily to the girls and shares an unexpected hug with Lavinia, before she and Becky depart for home.