Parents' Guide to

Worms

By Tracy Moore, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Bizarre animated tale about bullying is creepy, suspenseful.

Movie PG 2013 80 minutes
Worms Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 6+

Based on 4 parent reviews

bigchungues
bigchungues Parent of 2, 5, 8 and 10-year-old
April 9, 2022
age 2+

So childish and hard to make

I used to make videos on this app and they were really terrible.
Lebron12James3
Lebron12James3 Parent
February 11, 2022
age 2+

He was very pleased, just like we had hoped

See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Junior has great toys and nice clothes, but being bad at wormball all but guarantees he won't fit in with the other worms. A trip to the surface with friends Nico and Linda proves to be a scary but character-building adventure where he uncovers an evil plot by a roly-poly bug to hypnotize all the worms. Together the trio must face this foe and their fears.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4):
Kids say (4):

WORMS ought to be perfectly serviceable, but something feels off in this Brazilian animated story. The plot is that a worm that doesn't fit in learns how to build confidence by facing some fears and makes great friends in the process. The stop-motion animation looks pretty good; some of the weird, creepy bugs are strangely reminiscent of the characters in Beetlejuice's purgatory world. But that also makes them decidedly creepy for kids. And with a stilted delivery and strangely wooden affectation, these characters just don't land, and those ultimately positive messages are buried under what might be off-putting or even scary for lots of kids.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why talking-creature movies are so popular. What's the appeal?

  • Does Junior learn that there's anything good about going to the surface? What new scary things have you tried that turned out to be great?

  • How does Junior deal with being bullied? What would you do if you were being bullied?

Movie Details

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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