WEDNESDAY Is Unique and Compelling, But Falters Due to Excessive Immorality and Corrupt Worldview
By Moveiguide® Contributor
WEDNESDAY is a 2022 NETFLIX original series based on the Addams’ family characters created by Charles Addams. Directed by Tim Burton and produced by Carmen Pepelea, WEDNESDAY starts numerous talented actors including Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, Hunter Doohan, and Emma Myers. WEDNESDAY is a supernatural, comedy horror, bildungsroman that follows Wednesday Addams during her first semester at Nevermore Academy, a school for outcast students.
After dumping live piranhas in her high school’s swimming pool to exact revenge on the boy’s water polo team who bullied her brother, Wednesday is expelled from her third school. In response, her parents enroll her at their alma mater, Nevermore Academy in Jericho, Vermont.
Nevermore is a school for monstrous, outcast youth including psychics, sirens, gorgons, werewolves, vampires, and shapeshifters. Wednesday, who is cold, dark, and emotionless, and who has recently discovered that she inherited her mother’s psychic abilities has trouble adjusting to life at Nevermore.
Frustrated with feelings of being trapped at Nevermore and tired of living life in her mother’s shadow, Wednesday attempts to run away when attending her court ordered psychiatric appointments and hires a local, “normal” boy from Jericho to drive her to the train station. However, she is caught by Nevermore’s principle and forced to return to the school where she is nearly killed by a falling gargoyle.
Wednesday, after having a psychic vision about a classmate being killed by a monster, discovers that Jericho has had a string of murders that appear to have been committed by something supernatural. The town sheriff believes that the culprit is a student at Nevermore Academy. As a result, age old tensions continue to rise between the “different” students at Nevermore Academy and the “normal” townsfolk. Wednesday, with the help of her “pet,” named thing, a severed hand that has the ability to use sign language and walk using his fingers, attempts to solve the murder, however, her rocky relationship and family history with both the town sheriff and the principle of Nevermore may prove to make this task harder than Wednesday anticipated.
WEDNESDAY has a supernatural, atheistic, occult worldview that incorporates elements of existentialism. The story itself revolves around people with supernatural, hereditary traits such as being a werewolf, vampire, or siren. While this is so, the series rejects the idea of a higher power or god, instead favoring the idea of evolution, as evidenced by several comments made throughout the series. Additionally, one character successfully uses the blood of a human sacrifice and a chant to wake the dead, while other characters regularly speaks to spirits and one even sees one and uses her power to heal her wounds. Some major themes throughout the series include not letting others define you, always be yourself, be different, and remove “toxic” people from your life. As a result, many of the students at the school quickly and easily reject their families and sometimes their friends because they do not agree with what they think and wish to be “free” of them. It is important to note WEDNESDAY also contains promotes several woke culture themes including cancel culture (especially within the family unit), the idea that women are superior to men, that patriarchy is bad, that the pilgrims were murderers, and that being drastically different from mainstream society is a positive thing. While these themes are very subtle, they are certainly there. While this is the case, WEDNESDAY does have some good themes including forgiveness, protecting your siblings, fighting for what is right, personal growth, and friendship.
While WEDNESDAY does have a captivating storyline, it contains a great deal of violence, mild sexual immorality, light profanity, and occult elements. People being mauled to death by monsters, students turning into monsters and werewolves, several stabbings, a piranha attack, and the attempted mass genocide of an entire group of people are just a few examples of the series violent elements. Additionally, the shows main character is extremely morbid and somewhat sadistic. For example, she derives pleasure from pretending to be dead in an autopsy freezer and used to waterboard her brother for fun before moving to Nevermore. The show does not contain any nudity, however, there are several heterosexual kissing scenes between Wednesday’s parents and various couples at Nevermore. Several groups of Nevermore students are also associated with “sexual beings” including sirens, female human-like sea creatures from Greek mythology that lured sailors to their death through their beauty and enchanting song and gorgons. Additionally, one of the characters has two moms who are engaged in a homosexual relationship; however, they are only featured for about three minutes and never have any physical contact on screen. There is one reference to an individual who “had a propensity for necrophilia.” The series does contain several profanities in each episode such as g** d***, s***, and b****. There is no drug use, however one character is drunk and there are several references to preventing students from spiking the punch or consuming alcohol at a dance. Additionally, several characters engage with elements of the occult or witchcraft including making a human sacrifice (the person did not die) and ancient chants to wake the dead and several characters also regularly converse with spirits through various mediums. Lastly, the show has some questionable miscellaneous elements including problematic family relationships, one mother is in a cult, one is always criticizing her father, anther has overly sexualized parents, and several characters parents are absent from their lives. In fact, there is no positive family relationship shown in the series. Additionally, deceit, bullying, and cheating are all prevalent in the series.
While the series content is questionable its production is suburb. WEDNESDAY was primarily filmed in several ornate and beautiful locations in Bucharest, Romania. The show is well-casted, well-written, and well-produced. One unique feature of WEDNESDAY is its unique use of color and light. Each character has their own unique color palate and spectrum of light that reflects both their character and their personality. For example, Wednesday’s side of her dorm room is dark grey and black, while her roommates’ is full of color (her half of the window is even stained glass). Additionally, Danny Elfman and Chris Bacon, the composers for the series’ music, deserve recognition as their arrangements are beautiful and perfectly fit the theme of the series.
While WEDNESDAY does have a captivating plot and artistic value, it has an excessive amount of violence, immorality, and worldview problems.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
