Wednesday does have a pointy chew to it, capturing the Gothic appeal of the Addams Household films. Ortega is terrific as Wednesday, almost equaling the deadpan perfection of Christina Ricci along with her deliciously darkish one-liners. (“Sartre stated hell is different folks. He was my first crush.”) Catherine Zeta-Jones can also be exquisitely well-cast as Morticia, however Luis Guzman doesn’t actually work as Gomez — and that doesn’t matter all that a lot anyway, as a result of the remainder of the Addams household are restricted to mere cameos, apart from disembodied hand Factor. That is Wednesday’s present, and the remainder of the characters don’t fairly measure up, though Gwendoline Christie (Sport of Thrones) clearly understands the project as the varsity’s meddlesome Principal Weems. Ricci herself pops up as dorm mother Marilyn Thornhill, which is a cute little bit of stunt casting, however she isn’t given a lot to do.
In its construction and tone, Wednesday is definitely closest to a different Netflix drama, the late Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, however it’s lacking that present’s darkish magic. Ortega is really nice as Wednesday — she’s a star within the making — however the present slows to a crawl when she’s off-screen. In the long run, it feels much less like an Addams Household present than yet one more disappointingly acquainted YA homicide thriller making an attempt to piggyback off of well-known IP. Essentially the most damning factor I can say about Wednesday is that Wednesday Addams herself would most likely hate it.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: Netflix’s Wednesday has a ghoulish tone and an outstanding lead efficiency, however the story is strictly cookie-cutter YA thriller.