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Movie · Fantasy, Comedy, Horror, Animated · 2022 · PG-13

Wendell & Wild: parents' guide

12+our pick

Best for ages 12 and up. Rated PG-13 for some thematic material, violence, substance use and brief strong language.

A dark, stop-motion fantasy from Henry Selick and Jordan Peele that suits tweens and up who like their animation weird. Kat, a punk teen haunted by the car crash that killed her parents, strikes a deal with two demon brothers who promise to bring them back. The crash is shown more than once, a priest is murdered by drowning, an arson fire killed workers, and the demons get high on a magic hair cream. There's no romance and swearing is fairly light, though the MPA notes brief strong language. Grief, guilt and menace make it a better fit for 12 and up than for younger stop-motion fans.

What's in it

Violence

Moderate

Kat's parents die in a car crash shown in repeated flashbacks. Villains hit a priest with a golf club and drown him, a brewery fire killed its workers, a nun cracks her head in a fall and bleeds heavily, and a woman tries to strangle her husband.

Language

Moderate

The MPA cites brief strong language, which usually means an s-word or f-word, though neither detailed guide we read named one, so we rate it moderate to be safe. Guides list 'ass,' 'bloody,' 'damn,' 'hell' and 'crap,' and God's name misused about eight times.

Sex and nudity

None

No romance or sexual content. The demon brothers go shirtless and one jokes that the other is 'shooting blanks.' Kat's friend Raúl is a trans boy, which the story treats matter-of-factly.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

Moderate

Wendell and Wild eat a magic hair cream that makes them trip and hallucinate, and afterward they act drunk. Kat's family ran a brewery, where adults are seen drinking, and some characters sip champagne.

Scary or intense scenes

Moderate

Grotesque demons, corpses brought back from their graves, and Kat's nightmares of the crash keep the mood creepy. Her grief and guilt over her parents' deaths are intense, and the climax puts kids in the path of bulldozers.

Sensitive topics

  • Death of a parent
  • Bullying

Worth talking about

Kat blames herself for her parents' deaths. How does carrying that guilt shape the way she treats people, and what helps her begin to let it go?

Where to stream →

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Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, Wikipedia, moviemom.com. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.