Netflix’s Wednesday, which follows the titular Wednesday Addams of the Addams Family during her stay at the Nevermore Academy for outcasts, has finally returned with a new season. If you, like me, have binge-watched it, and are feeling an emptiness after finishing Wednesday Season 2 Part 2, then you likely want to watch movies with a similar vibe, too.
Wednesday Addams is known for her morbid tastes, obsession with death, general skepticism of people, love for mischief, sharp wit, intelligence, deduction skills, confidence, and steadfast loyalty to loved ones. Every actress who’s played Wednesday Addams in a movie or show has interpreted her differently, but the universal trait that all their performances share is that Wednesday’s always a Goth.
Tim Burton’s expertise with Gothic cinema makes him the ideal director for the show, as he demonstrates again with Season 2. Nevermore, whose architecture is inspired by the works of the greatest Gothic architects, is a haven for all the outcast species on Wednesday. Only a film with an equally Gothic location, following a Goth, will be satisfying right now.
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2016)
Before he took on the story of Wednesday Addams at Nevermore Academy, Tim Burton directed the film adaptation of Ransom Riggs’ 2011 novel, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. If you’re missing Wednesday and her curious host of batchmates at Nevermore, you don’t have to look further than this 2016 movie to satisfy your cravings for similar people and storylines.
The Peculiars in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children are similar to the outcasts in Wednesday. There are classifications, different abilities, and colorful backgrounds associated with each kind of peculiar. The film’s protagonist can see monsters who hunt other Peculiars, primarily children. The storyline is similar to Wednesday‘s, and the protagonist is Gothic as well, reflected in his fashion sense.
Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events (2004)
It seems like Wednesday and Nevermore can’t escape the clutches of evil people in positions of power as the new Principal, brilliantly played by Steve Buscemi, turns out to be the villain, alongside the parents of the previous season’s villain. If you’re looking for a story where children fight against oppressive authority, Casper director Brad Silberling has something to offer.
Based on the first three novels in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events books, this feature film follows two children and their infant sister who are orphaned by a mysterious fire and sent to live with their Uncle Olaf, who plans to steal their family fortune. A predecessor to his dual role in Sonic 3, Jim Carrey’s performance as Olaf adds to the Gothic undertones created by Olaf’s mansion.
Cruella (2021)
Somewhere between Gothic and Punk, Emma Stone’s Cruella de Vil, a reimagined version of the iconic villain from Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians, is an embodiment of anti-establishment sentiment with an incredible fashion sense. Her rebellious flair as an anti-hero, accompanied by an abundance of black in her wardrobe, makes Cruella‘s titular protagonist a Goth with an evil streak.
Cruella also has one of the best movie soundtracks, so all of Cruella’s iconic lines and moments are accompanied by equally epic needle drops. The relationship between her two sides, Estella and Cruella, is somewhat reminiscent of Enid and Wednesday’s dynamic, although the latter is much healthier. Cruella’s quotable one-liners and single-minded focus on her mission are reminiscent of Wednesday.
Coraline (2009)
One of the primary subplots in the new season of Wednesday is the development of Wednesday’s relationship with her mother, which gets further strained over the course of the season, despite noteworthy moments of reconciliation. Wednesday Addams feels stifled by her home life at times and ventures into dangerous territories on her quest alone, in search of answers and solace.
Coraline is the first feature film by Laika Animation Studios.
If this storyline sounds familiar, then you might be thinking of Henry Selick’s Coraline, where the protagonist, voiced by Dakota Fanning, finds solace in an alternate version of her life in another dimension. As a scary fantasy movie, its imaginative and gorgeous visuals, which construct a Gothic world around the titular Coraline, would satisfy viewers looking for movies like Wednesday.
Corpse Bride (2005)
From the mind of Tim Burton comes this morbidly graphic romantic stop-motion film about a man who accidentally marries the corpse of a dead woman after messing up his wedding day. He is dragged into the land of the dead and must figure out how to return to his fiancée, who feels betrayed that he burned her dress and disappeared.
While there aren’t many similarities with Wednesday, Burton’s Corpse Bride is an animated horror movie that’s perfect for a family watch, and is set in a vibrantly morbid world of wonders and horrors. Moreover, the leads are voiced by Burton regulars Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, and their incredible talents elevate the emotional impact of the soulful musical numbers.
Monster House (2006)
Part of Wednesday‘s charm is the lore of the monsters and the titular protagonist’s journey of discovering, overpowering, and nullifying them. Her detective skills, knowledge of the monster world, and ability to think on her feet make her the perfect monster hunter. While the three kids in Monster House aren’t as resourceful, their journey has a similar path to Wednesday’s.
Moreover, tragic backstories are often common to Wednesday‘s monstrous characters, and the terrifying house in Monster House has one of the most tragic backstories of all time. The old man who guards it with his life is voiced by Steve Buscemi, which is another connection between the movie and Wednesday. Fans of emotionally rich horror stories will love Monster House.
The Worst Witch (1986)
Comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable, but The Worst Witch is also similar to Wednesday in that it is set in an academy of witches that is threatened by someone close to the principal, and the most socially outcast character is the only one who can foil the plan in time before a big celebration of Halloween at the academy.
The Worst Witch was most recently remade as a show in 2017, where Bella Ramsey played the protagonist.
The striking plot similarity isn’t where the connection ends, because the academy in The Worst Witch is perhaps even more Gothic than Nevermore, simply due to the lack of uniformity, the whimsical visual design, and the random elements of witchcraft, like cats flying on broomsticks. Wednesday Addams would have fit into the academy, and her fans will love the place.
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
The titular location of Hotel Transylvania is similar to Nevermore in that it almost exclusively houses outcasts and monsters of mythology. All sorts of monsters have gathered for a wedding in this whimsically animated setting, which accentuates the darkness of their presence while creating an uplifting party mood for them to celebrate the iconic, funny, and Gothic protagonist’s 118th birthday.
Mavis Dracula might as well be Wednesday Addams, due to her sense of style, curiosity, macabre tastes as a vampire, mischief, and an affinity for morbid pranks. She is a Goth in the truest sense of the word, and regularly throws caution to the wind, which she does on her birthday after she finds the only human occupant of the hotel.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
One of the best Gothic movies of all time is Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, which introduces the titular character, a deranged demon exorcist who can be summoned for all purposes of haunting and other unholy activities. One of the biggest surprises of 2024 was the legacy sequel that was released and continues the story 36 years after the original.
For fans of Wednesday, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has some extra significance. It marks the first time that Jenna Ortega appeared in a Tim Burton feature film. The two were working on Wednesday Season 2 when the film was released. Ortega plays Astrid, the daughter of Lydia, played by Winona Ryder. Ortega perfectly embodies the same Gothic energy that made Lydia iconic.
Addams Family Values (1993)
If you want more Wednesday, you should watch more Wednesday Addams. While there have been some mediocre attempts to remake the original TV show, both in animation and live action, both as shows and movies, the two live-action films from the early ’90s, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and starring Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams, are the best of the lot.
Of the two, Addams Family Values is most similar to Wednesday, because it follows Wednesday and Pugsley at summer camp, which is different from Nevermore but still puts them around their peers. They fight the oppressive power dynamics at camp, and foil the plans of the homicidal nanny Uncle Fester has married before she can murder him for his inheritance.
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