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Parents' Guide to

The Addams Family

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

So-so adaptation isn't spooky, kooky enough; a few scares.

Movie PG 2023 105 minutes
The Addams Family Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 7+

Based on 26 parent reviews

LunaPathfinder
LunaPathfinder Adult
October 12, 2020
age 5+

Not sure why it has such bad reviews

I put off watching this movie for ages due to its bad reviews. Turns out it’s a great kid friendly version of the Addams family! With a message of accepting other’s differences to boot. Keeping in mind that the 90s live action movies were rated PG-13 (and this is of course PG), I think they did I good job keeping the grim, spooky, and kooky tone of the movies. If you enjoy Tim Burton I think you will recognize and understand the depiction of the bright and pastel cookie cutter town of Assimilation as disturbing in its own right. People seem to be a bit confused by this choice, but I felt it made perfect sense. As an outsider myself I finder the plastic peppy woman with no respect for others way scarier than the Addams. That’s sort of the point. All of the messaging is excellent. Animation is a bit off putting, but well done. I didn’t find the movie to be boring or badly animated as others have suggested (highly stylized animation, but it wasn’t bad quality or low resolution). My kids are 6 and 8 and Halloween enthusiasts. We just watched the live action movies for the first time and my kids loved this movie just as much. I think I liked it a bit more in some ways tbh. I prefer movies with strong messaging. The old movies aren’t particularly “woke” and they didn’t age all that well. They deserve a decent live action PG-13 remake, but if you have kids this movie is definitely worth a watch (especially during spooky season). If you’re very high strung or devoutly religious this probably isn’t for you. If you’re an adult fan of the Addams Family looking for an adult movie this isn’t for you. If you’re looking for something a bit spooky and kooky with a pro individuality message I would give it a chance. It’s no Kubo and The Two Strings or Ghibli classic, but it doesn’t deserve a 2 star rating. Yikes people.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
2 people found this helpful.
Dale Dietrich
Dale Dietrich Parent of 5 and 7-year-old
December 30, 2019
age 4+

Fine for the Whole Family

Having just run through all the older Addams Family movies, this was a nice recent addition for our 5 and 7 year olds. They both enjoyed it and mom and dad enjoyed it more than some of the other addams family movies. We think its safe for all ages. Yes its a tad bit violent but if your kids are exposed to even a modicum of violence in kids video games, its no more violent than that. Not a great movie, not a bad movie. Just an OK edition to the family movie night line up for a family with young kids that aren't overly sensitive to addams-family style violence.
1 person found this helpful.
See all 26 parent reviews

What's the Story?

THE ADDAMS FAMILY begins with a young Morticia (voiced by Charlize Theron) and Gomez (Oscar Isaac) getting married in the Old Country in front of friends and family. But an angry mob of villagers interrupts, driving the clan out of what's presumably Eastern Europe. The newlyweds and their servant, Thing (a sentient severed hand), decide to flee to New Jersey and take up residence in an abandoned asylum for the criminally insane. Gomez and Morticia proceed to raise their two children, Wednesday (Chloe Grace Moretz) and Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard). As a family rite of passage approaches for Pugsley, the Addamses -- who are quite secluded in their mansion -- must deal with their neighbors down the hill, where home improvement guru Margaux Needler (Allison Janney) has designed a planned community called "Assimilation." She wants the creepy family to redecorate or vacate.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (26 ):
Kids say (54 ):

With its star-studded voice cast and name recognition, audiences will expect more laughs -- or frights -- from this unremarkable reboot of the legendary macabre comedy. Unfortunately, The Addams Family's storyline about obsessively controlling home-improvement Margaux creating a cookie-cutter community is bland and underwhelming. Wednesday's foray into junior high, where she befriends Margaux's daughter, Parker (Elsie Fisher), starts off promisingly but quickly falls flat with predictable antics. Yes, there are a few laughs, mostly involving the extended family -- including Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll) and Grandma (Bette Midler) -- and the requisite New Jersey jokes, which kids might not even get. Moretz and Wolfhard are good at their bored, disaffected voices, while Isaac and Theron seem to pay tribute to the famous actors who previously portrayed Gomez and Morticia, particularly Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston.

There's a special place in pop culture history for The Addams Family, although it's possible younger viewers may not know much more than summer-camp spoofs of the legendary theme song. It's too bad this Halloween-timed incarnation is only decent enough to get families (particularly those with nostalgic parents) into theaters for a seasonal screening, rather than to rebuild a franchise. It would be far better to simply stream, rent, or buy the previous versions of the Addams Family than to make this serviceable but unremarkable adaptation the definitive depiction of the blissfully creepy family.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in The Addams Family. Is it necessary to the story? How does the movie's comic tone affect the impact of the violent moments?

  • Are animated movies less frightening than live-action movies? Why or why not? Do they impact younger viewers differently? How much scary stuff can young kids handle?

  • The movie deals with the conflict between assimilation/conformity and individuality/eccentricity. How do the Addamses stand apart from their neighbors? Why are people who rebel against social standards often seen as threatening?

  • Do you consider anyone in the movie a role model? What character strengths do they display? Why is family so important to the Addamses?

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