The film is based on the imagination of P. T. Barnum, a man who came from nothing but rose up to make his spectacular dreams come true and create the birth of show business.
The Greatest Showman starts with P. T. Barnum as a young boy working with his father, who was a tailor to a privileged upper-class family called the Hallett family. Barnum makes Mr Hallett's young daughter Charity laugh which causes him to reprimand and slap him for disobedience. Charity is sent to boarding school but keeps in touch with Barnum through letters until they meet again when they are older. Barnum marches up the Hallett family home and asks Mr Hallett if he can marry his daughter, as Charity is coming down the stairs with her suitcase he tell's Barnum that his daughter will come back eventually.
Barnum and Charity get married and have two daughters and live a very happy life. Barnum is laid off from his job at a shipping company because all their ships have sunk. However, Barnum uses this and deceives the bank into thinking they're his ships by putting them down as collateral so he can get a large loan from the bank. He uses the loan to buy 'Barnum's American Museum' in which he searches for and hires freaks to perform in his museum, which actually gets people to buy tickets. The circus show soon becomes a great success.
After this, Barnum meets Philip Carlyle, a famous playwright from an upper class family and soon gets him to join. Carlyle starts to fall for a circus performer, Anne the trapeze artist, however he knows this will not go down well with his family.
Carlyle arranges for a trip for the whole cast of the circus to meet Queen Victoria, and during this trip Barnum meets the world famous opera singer Jenny Lind. He persuades Lind to perform in America under his management - as Barnum is trying to further his reputation among the upper class. During this time, Carlyle takes Anne to the theatre but runs into his parents on the way inside who humiliate Anne, ending with her running away and Carlyle following her in an attempt to convince her they could actually be together.
Lind agrees to perform and her first show is a grand success. Barnum is away from the circus during this time, and increasingly tries to hide them from the upper class circle he is now mixing in and they started to feel betrayed. However, on her tour Lind begins to fall in love with Barnum and when his love isn't reciprocated she decides to call the rest of the tour off knowing this could financially destroy Barnum.
As Barnum returns from the tour to greet his family there is news of a fire at the circus. Carlyle thinks that Anne is trapped inside and runs into the blazing building to rescue her. Anne appears moments later from behind the crowd as she was not actually inside. Barnum then makes the decision to run inside and later comes out carrying an unconscious Carlyle who is barely breathing.
All of these events are devastating to Barnum and eventually leads to his mansion being repossessed by the bank and Charity taking the girls to move back with her parents. A depressed Barnum goes for a drink at the pub and is met by the rest of his circus gang who convince him not to give up and rebuild the circus. So he decides to do exactly that. He goes to Charity's parents house to mend their relationship to which she agrees. Then he is tasked with the financial difficulty of rebuilding the circus, to which no bank will him any money. However, Carlyle steps in and offers the profits he has been saving to pay for this, only if he can become Barnum's partner. Of course, Barnum agrees but they cannot rebuild in the same place as it is simply too expensive.
At the end of the film we see Barnum has rebuilt his circus as a huge tent near the docks instead. Once again the circus is a great success. Barnum passes all control of the show to Carlyle as he leaves to spend more time with his family. And that's the end.
The entire film was absolutely moving with beautiful songs and choreography. I haven't stopped listening to the soundtrack since I watched it, and I can still picture the scenes in my head as I listen to each song. It is one of the best musical films I have ever watched and I really can't wait to see it again!
I would certainly recommend anyone and everyone to watch this, especially if you are into musicals - you will not be disappointed.
Have you seen The Greatest Showman yet? Let me know your thoughts!
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