Review – Wednesday (Netflix): a macabre and successful series that has a sense of family (Addams)

“Snap, snap”…You must be familiar with the Addams Family theme music, with its signature snap of the fingers. A melody that is about to resonate again on Netflix thanks to the new series Wednesdayavailable this Wednesday, November 23 on the streaming platform.

This new program based on the eldest of the Addams, and produced in part by Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Batman), attempts to free itself from previous adaptations and offers a mixture of tones and genres rather courageous… and successful. Here is our review of the series, guaranteed without spoilers.

netflix

Netflix is ​​a paid subscription application and service that provides access to an online library of several thousand films, series, documentaries, shows and TV shows.

• Downloads:
  847
• Release date :
  14/11/2022
• Author :
  Netflix, Inc.
• Licence :
  Free license
• Categories:
  

  Video – Leisure

• Operating system :
  

  Android, Online service All Internet browsers, Windows 10/11, iOS iPhone / iPad
  

The story of the series Wednesday

The series follows the adventures of Wednesday Addams, now a student at Nevermore Academy. As she learns to tame her new psychic powers, the young girl must also thwart a series of monstrous murders that terrorize the city and solve the mystery in which her parents were embroiled 25 years ago, all while painfully trying to tie new relationships within Nevermore.

Our review

Based on the Charles Addams comics published in The New Yorker from 1938 — already adapted into two cult films in the early 90s — the series Wednesday has a heavy legacy to bear. But the rebellious teenager shows us that she has the shoulders, leading a rhythmic and generous adventure, of astonishing density.

This new version of the comico-macabre family bets on a drama for young adults tinged with horror and fantasy. Skillful mix between Sex Education, Riverdale and Harry Potter (yes, yes), the series Wednesday succeeds in almost everything it undertakes and will appeal as much to its primary target (teenagers) as to an older audience, not satiated by Halloween celebrations.

The show quickly imposes its rhythm, its slightly offbeat tone and its dark humour, the spectator thus finding himself immersed in the Nevermore Academy and its bestiary of werewolves, gorgonians and other mermaids. In one scene, we have fun with the heroine’s sarcastic outbursts on the school, her classmates or her parents, when, in the next, the first softly gore deaths tickle our (morbid) curiosity as spectators.

Wednesday brilliantly juggles between criminal investigation, secret society and heart problems, not to mention an ambitious plot mixing family secrets and historical trauma. When we finally think we’ve grasped the whole picture and found the culprit, a new piece of the puzzle shakes up our certainties… and increases our desire to discover what’s next. Finely written, well balanced and rising crescendo in intensity, the series knows how to manage its effects to captivate the public throughout its eight episodes.

Admittedly, by dint of running several hares at the same time, the series botches some interesting narrative arcs and skates somewhat in the last meters, plunging too often into repetition. Don’t expect to find a lot of Tim Burton in the series either: if the general atmosphere and the artistic direction are well inspired by his style, the director of beetle juice only signs four episodes, without splashing us with his paw.

But these few flats in no way detract from the general quality of Wednesday, which also owes a lot to its cast of characters, each more detailed, complex and endearing than the other (Enid and The Thing in mind), and to its talented cast. In the lead role, Jenna Ortega (the last Scream) proves particularly compelling, while fans of the Addams Family will happily reunite with Christina Ricci, the original Wednesday of the films.

Wednesday is an excellent surprise, with a thrilling story full of twists and turns. A generous and deliciously macabre series that will please everyone, from the rebellious teenager to his disoriented parents, through the follower of well-crafted puzzles. A comeback for an Addams family that we definitely want to be part of.

Series Wednesday releases November 23 on Netflix.

• Watch the series trailer: