The Wonder Weeks Review: Directed by Appie Boudellah and Aram van de Rest, it is written by Appie Boudellah, Mustafa Boudellah and Maikel Nijnuis and stars Sallie Harmsen, Yolanthe Cabau, Louis Talpe, Katja Schuurman, Frederik Brom, Soy Kroon, Sarah Chronis, Iliass Ojja, Hiske Bongaarts and Miljuschka Witzenhausen, alongside other cast members. Also known as Oei ik groei! It is based on a novel of the same name by Hetty van de Rijt and Frans X. Plooij.
Adel, Appie and Mussi Boudellah join the crew as producers along with Every van de Grist, while Madelief Blanken joins on board as the casting director with Max Maloney as the cinematographer. Being a new parent is truly a challenging time, and this film attempts to represent that accurately by showing these parents struggling to find balance in their lives.
– The Wonder Weeks Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
Making films about parenthood is always tough to nail. While every parent has a distinct experience with their unique personalised children, they all still have a sense of camaraderie that comes from being part of the same set of responsibilities. This movie brings that to the fore by showing the different kinds of parents that exist in the modern world. We often take for granted how things should be presented, and so far, this movie starts off strong, plunging us right into the bowels of difficult parenthood.
We are following three couples and their lives revolving around their children. However, they always manage to keep it healthy, showing parenthood as just one aspect of their personalities rather than it taking over their whole lives. Even when characters do that, we see that it is actually met with negative consequences that come with being so obsessed with an outcome. Moreover, the writing in this film is positive, healthy and optimistic. It is expected to bring audiences entertainment but also shares the realities at the same time.
The writers were unafraid to be explicit and share stories that breastfeeding people go through. They made it interesting to watch every couple because they are all going through different things in their personal lives. Even though they all come together as a unit in the film because of their children, we see that their bonds go beyond that. There is love, insight, understanding and friendship between all of them because of the way their characters are constructed.
Even the Western world has yet to catch up to this kind of positive presentation of parenthood that relies on showing both sides of the spectrum instead of romanticising either side. The challenges are well-placed, carefully curated and come in at exactly the right moment in time in the story. If the creators were given a better chance, they should have jumped at turning this into a television series because the lessons in this are fit to be presented in front of people.
Television as a method of education has completely died down due to the advent of streaming platforms. While we have access to more information than ever, our main goal is to be entertained at the end of it, and this film makes sure of that. For the two hours that we have strapped in, the characters take us on their rollercoaster-like journey up and down. Moreover, we do feel like rooting for the characters because they have real problems and challenges with sorting out priorities.
The Wonder Weeks Review: Final Thoughts
Even people who haven’t had children and are not planning to can take this film as great insight into what it is that people need to prioritise first. However, it must be noted that all of these characters come from privileged backgrounds, doing jobs and owning houses that still give them the disposable income to do things. Once again, it becomes clear that being good parents comes from good financial stability. Which might make the characters seem unrelatable but still makes for an entertaining watch.
This writer would suggest that people watch this film because it also included a queer couple with a sperm donor, which provided some more insight into how family dynamics are personal and custom to everyone’s life. It positively brings to light people’s tendencies toward parenthood but also allows them the grace to make mistakes. It is fun, includes some mild drama and also manages to educate people on the realities of parenthood.
The Wonder Weeks is currently streaming on Netflix. Do you think this movie accurately represents parenthood? Let us know in the comments below.
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