Movie · 1993 · Comedy, Family, Fantasy · 1h 34m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 6.3/10 (413K ratings)
The family just got a little stranger.
Overview
Siblings Wednesday and Pugsley Addams will stop at nothing to get rid of Pubert, the new baby boy adored by parents Gomez and Morticia. Things go from bad to worse when the new "black widow" nanny, Debbie Jellinsky, launches her plan to add Fester to her collection of dead husbands.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.3/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.82/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Metacritic: 61
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Barry Sonnenfeld
Production
Scott Rudin Productions, Paramount Pictures
Cast
Anjelica Huston, Raúl Juliá, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack, Christina Ricci, Carol Kane, Jimmy Workman, David Krumholtz, Peter MacNicol, Christine Baranski, Carel Struycken, Christopher Hart, Dana Ivey, Kaitlyn Hooper, Kristen Hooper, Mercedes McNab, Sam McMurray, Harriet Sansom Harris, Julie Halston, Barry Sonnenfeld
Where to watch
Paramount Plus Premium
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, stylish sequel that leans harder into macabre comedy, deadpan family dynamics, and satirical bite than the first film. It’s especially rewarding if you like gothic humor with a mischievous streak and a villain who’s as funny as she is sinister.
Best for
fans of dark comedy with a family-friendly surface
viewers who enjoy campy villain performances
people who like gothic production design and visual gags
audiences looking for a quotable 90s comedy
fans of offbeat coming-of-age subplots
Skip if
you want straightforward kid comedy without satire
you dislike morbid humor or sly cruelty
you prefer fast-paced action over character-driven jokes
you’re looking for a warm, conventional family movie
Overview
Addams Family Values is the rare sequel that feels freer, sharper, and more confident than the original. It doubles down on the franchise’s core joke: this is a family so loving and self-possessed that everyone else looks absurd by comparison. The result is a comedy that plays like a gothic sitcom with real comic timing and a surprisingly pointed sense of social satire.
Worth noting
The standout stretch is the summer-camp storyline, which turns cheerful Americana into a target for gleeful demolition. Wednesday becomes the film’s secret weapon, but the whole ensemble lands: Gomez and Morticia remain a fantasy of marital devotion, while Debbie Jellinsky is one of the great comic villains of the era, all charm, vanity, and menace.
Bottom line
What keeps it memorable is how specific its tone is. It’s spooky without being scary, sweet without becoming sentimental, and rude in exactly the right places. If the joke of the Addamses is that they’re the healthiest people in the room, this sequel understands that perfectly and builds a whole movie around it.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Kayla · 8174 likes
“it’s a boy.” “it’s a girl.”“GOMEZ WHAT IS IT”“IT’S AN ADDAMS!”
exactly addams family no genders just goth
sophie (4★) · 5807 likes
the only thing better than joan cusack killing men and looking fabulous while doing it is christina ricci setting a racist summer camp on fire
Tom Morton (5★) · 4228 likes
Morticia: I'm just like any modern woman trying to have it all. Loving husband, a family. It's just... I wish I had more time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade.
<3
nina (5★) · 4087 likes
“you have put him under some weird sexual spell....i respect that.”
samantha (5★) · 2905 likes
wednesdays boyfriend screaming at that poster of michael jackson is the funniest thing I have seen since this pandemic began
1996 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 59m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (359.1K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
For its high-energy farce, bold performances, and affectionate but pointed social comedy.