A return to form by the master of gothic storytelling, Tim Burton, as schoolgirl Wednesday Addams arrives at Nevermore Academy. Having been expelled from her previous school for dumping piranhas in the swimming pool during a polo team practice (Wednesday objected to members of the team bullying her brother), Wednesday is enrolled in the school where her parents first met.
Wednesday is a glorious eight part miniseries set in a school for outcasts as Jenna Ortega looks to control and understand her evolving psychic skills whilst fitting into the social world of school. But outside the establishment’s boundaries, a number of killings are creating tension in the local town. Whilst Principal Weems (Gwendoline Christie) supports the official version blaming a wild bear, Sheriff Galpin (Jamie McShane) looks to Nevermore for answers. Wednesday, very nearly a victim, has her own opinions and sets out to prove them, no matter how unpopular it makes her at the Academy.
It’s a schlock supernatural horror tale full of humour and things that go bump in the night as, with more than a little help from Goody Addams, a deceased ancestor seen in visions, Wednesday embroils herself in the history of the town. Little is as it seems.
Ortega is a revelation as the ice-cold, emotionless Wednesday who, over the eight episodes, melts slowly whilst kookie and threatening schoolfriends alike add to general likeability of the series.
Rating: 77%
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