Wednesday
by Paulette Reynolds * December 10, 2022
by Paulette Reynolds * December 10, 2022
Netflix series 2022
Starring Jenna Ortega/Wednesday, Emma Myers/Enid, Gwendoline Christie/Principal Weems, Riki Lindhome/Dr. Valerie Kinbott, Hunter Doohan/Tyler, Percy Hynes/Xavier, Joy Sunday/Bianca, Christina Ricci/Marilyn Thornioll, Moosa Mostafa/Eugene, Jamie McShane/Sheriff Donovan Galpin, Victor Dorobantu/Thing, Isaac Ordonez/Pugsley, Catherine Zeta-Jones/Morticia, Luis Guzman/Gomez, Fred Armisen/Uncle Fester, George Burcea/Lurch, William Houston/Joseph Crackstone
Starring Jenna Ortega/Wednesday, Emma Myers/Enid, Gwendoline Christie/Principal Weems, Riki Lindhome/Dr. Valerie Kinbott, Hunter Doohan/Tyler, Percy Hynes/Xavier, Joy Sunday/Bianca, Christina Ricci/Marilyn Thornioll, Moosa Mostafa/Eugene, Jamie McShane/Sheriff Donovan Galpin, Victor Dorobantu/Thing, Isaac Ordonez/Pugsley, Catherine Zeta-Jones/Morticia, Luis Guzman/Gomez, Fred Armisen/Uncle Fester, George Burcea/Lurch, William Houston/Joseph Crackstone
"When I look at you, the following three emojis come to mind:
Rope. Shovel. Hole."
Mayhem * Murder * Teenage Animal Angst : The macabre Addams Family franchise gets a fabulous new series, worthy of binge-watching any day.
Rope. Shovel. Hole."
Mayhem * Murder * Teenage Animal Angst : The macabre Addams Family franchise gets a fabulous new series, worthy of binge-watching any day.
And this new Addams family is fabulous, from a cryptic Morticia to the Charles Adams - appropriate Gomez. There’s her brother Pugsley, chubby and long-suffering, plus Thing - who finally becomes a real three dimensional character - complete with battle scars. Grandmama went missing, unfortunate since the story featured a rabid witch hunter that she could’ve easily handled.
The story takes place at the Nevermore Academy, where Wednesday is sent after punishing Pugsley‘s tormentors at yet another school. The academy is filled with the generic blend of creatures that seem to be invading the CW world of television fantasy: sirens, werewolves, gorgons, and shape-shifters. In typical defiant mode Wednesday doesn’t want to leave her comfort zone, but has learned to embrace the traditional nursery rhyme, “Wednesday’s child is full of woe”.
The townspeople (“normies”) do little to truly welcome the Nevermores, which creates an uneasy atmosphere of detente in a town whose history is built on a Bible-thumping puritanical mob, once led by the crazed Puritan minister, Joseph Crackstone. Fast-forward to the present, where Normies are content to blame Nevermore students for a string of murders plaguing their little hamlet.
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Wednesday gets drawn into these violent deaths when one of their own is attacked, and becomes obsessed with bringing the perpetrator to justice and clearing the school’s tarnished image. Our hero also spends the school year learning how to tolerate her roommate and peers, bend a few rules, and breaks a few hearts (No, not literally.).
It’s inevitable that comparisons will be made between Hogwarts and Nevermore, but despite the usual magical connections, Wednesday’s school year will feel more familiar to viewers; as the students face issues and situations that resonant a uniquely universal experience. And the teenage girls don’t wait around for permission to take the lead or speak truth to their power.
The diverse cast, headed by Jenna Ortega, keeps the action seamlessly flowing along, serving up snappy dialogue and enough plot twists to seduce viewers into a "just one more episode" happy trance.
The creative team at Wednesday gives a smart homage to Edgar Allan Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue, by featuring Wednesday as the relentless Generation Z Detective Dupin. And hopefully Tim Burton's credentials are sufficient enough to warrant a few more seasons.
COPYRIGHT 2012/2023. Paulette Reynolds. All CineMata Movie Madness blog articles, reviews, faux interviews, commentary, and the Cine Mata character are under the sole ownership of Paulette Reynolds. All intellectual and creative rights reserved.
