[1] A seventh film adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott, the film is directed by Greta Gerwig,[1] and stars an ensemble cast consisting of Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, and Chris Cooper.

He called the score as a combination of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and David Bowie's works, as a wide range of emotions being pictured in the film and its characters.

In a scene, where March family’s matriarch, Marmee (Laura Dern), moves to Washington, D.C., Desplat produced an upbeat score that grows more somber, reflecting the mood of the film.

Although the tone is fairly consistent throughout, achieved mostly by his orchestral palette, Desplat rarely repeats himself and instead provides a constant source of invention within that tonal range.

"[17] Jonathan Broxton further claimed "Desplat's music is everything one would expect it to be; it overflows with gorgeous orchestrations, sublime instrumental combinations and harmonies, a dramatic sense of freedom and movement, effortless elegance, and lush emotional content.

It works like gangbusters in the film, allowing what could otherwise have been a somewhat staid and stuffy adaptation of a 150-year-old novel to take flight as a passionate, exciting story of romance and female empowerment.

The thematic content is perhaps a little on the subtle side, and may not immediately become apparent to those who need more overt and memorable melodic writing in order to connect with a score, but, this is a minor quibble which in no way detracts from the overall excellence of the piece.

The score’s staccato notes accentuate the plot, from Jo’s bookish ambitions to Beth’s frail health, and yet the music is also a character in itself: both descriptive and worth describing.

He said "Formative moments from childhood, adolescence, and adulthood in all four sister’s lives, before there was even a whisper of music, were ordered in such a way as to bring out the depth of emotion that lurked just under the surface.

"[4] Miller cited two scenes as an example and clarified the difference between the instrumentation and tonality on the score, and also with the composition, saying "In the first segment, the melody is played in the key of G major.

"[4] Ellen Johnson further recalled that, "The music in this film needed to have a certain movement—Little Women’s protagonist Jo is rarely still—and Desplat’s arrangements are positively kinetic".

She recalled the composition of the opening theme, claiming that "It’s thoroughly bright, a perfect introduction to a movie that will explore both youth and young adulthood at great lengths".

It is equally reliant upon the strings, keyboard, and wind instruments, and the songs drip into one another, causing the entire work to attain a sort of hypnotic sameness.