Most critics find something to enjoy in Wednesday, with praise clustering around Jenna Ortega’s glum delivery, sharp comic timing and ability to make the character her own. The more favourable reviews also welcome the dark humour and the energy of its supernatural school mystery. Even several reviewers who question the series’ direction regard its lead performance as a substantial strength.
The disagreement is over how much of the Addams Family survives the move into familiar teenage drama. Reservations centre on predictable plotting, diminished family relationships and a lack of the source material’s strangeness; some also find little distinctive in the production. The spread is wide: Collider sees a successful reinvention that retains the family’s heart and humour, while IndieWire finds a lifeless mixture of recycled ideas and teenage mystery conventions. The consensus is warmer towards Wednesday herself than towards the programme built around her.