wonder weeks movie review

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Parents' guide to, the wonder weeks.

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Common Sense Media Review

Wealthy couples struggle with parenthood; language, sex.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Wonder Weeks is a Dutch comedy that tries to satirize obsessive "modern" child-rearing techniques and philosophies. Peer pressure to be the best possible parent and to show off about it spreads often absurd micromanaging among a group of rich and self-indulgent parents. Language…

Why Age 13+?

A new dad masturbates (he is seen from behind) to photos posted online by his ba

Infrequent use of "f--k," "s--t," "nipples," "boobs," and "d--k."

A man driving his baby around to get him to sleep takes his eye off the road and

Adults drink alcohol.

Any Positive Content?

The action takes place in the Netherlands with mostly Dutch White actors. A baby

"Enlightened" practices of childrearing can seem absurd and counterproductive.

Anne is a competent lawyer but a nervous mom subject to the bullying of another

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A new dad masturbates (he is seen from behind) to photos posted online by his babysitter. A couple with a baby tries to have clothed sex but the crying baby interrupts.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

A man driving his baby around to get him to sleep takes his eye off the road and has a minor accident. A man locks his baby into his car. In a mix-up, the wrong child is circumcised. A woman in childbirth is seen yelling in pain.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Diverse Representations

The action takes place in the Netherlands with mostly Dutch White actors. A babysitter is Black and an Asian husband wants to pass on his culture and traditions to his child, including a circumcision ceremony that involves the sacrifice of a sheep. A lesbian couple serve as leaders in a community of parents of young children.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Messages

Positive role models.

Anne is a competent lawyer but a nervous mom subject to the bullying of another mom who dictates how to raise children.

Parents need to know that The Wonder Weeks is a Dutch comedy that tries to satirize obsessive "modern" child-rearing techniques and philosophies. Peer pressure to be the best possible parent and to show off about it spreads often absurd micromanaging among a group of rich and self-indulgent parents. Language includes infrequent use of "f--k," "s--t," "nipples," "boobs," and "d--k." A new dad masturbates (he's seen from behind) to photos posted online by his babysitter. A couple with a baby tries to have clothed sex but the crying baby interrupts. A woman in childbirth is seen yelling in pain. A man driving his baby around to get him to sleep takes his eye off the road and has a minor accident. A man locks his baby into his car. In a mix-up, the wrong child is circumcised. Adults drink alcohol. In Dutch with English subtitles. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

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What's the Story?

Every obsessive over-concern in the "modern" baby care playbook is ticked off in THE WONDER WEEKS. Most of it is set up as targets for mockery. "Crying means experiencing a developmental leap," Anne (Sallie Harmsen), a new mom, is advised. Among these wealthy people, the natural phenomenon of procreating is turned into a trendy prestigious act that "enlightened" people do better than everyone else. This seems to leave little room for crucial components of parenthood -- love, sacrifice, and patience. Mom clubs are dictatorial and members must embrace questionable practices if they want to reap the perks of the best daycare. A pediatrician scolds parents for raising a "fat" baby, even though the kid looks just like every other baby. The pregnant woman (Sarah Chronis) insisting on natural delivery is forced into a medically-necessary Caesarean section. A spiritual advisor rings gongs over a baby with "chakra problems." A baby's dad (Soy Kroon) is sexually attracted to the hot young female babysitter. A lesbian couple is inconvenienced by their sperm-donor-friend's desire to be a co-parent. Wedding-style gender-reveal parties are part of this landscape. So is sensitivity to the culture wars between parents of different backgrounds as they negotiate how to raise their kids. Rigid parents devise dictatorial schedules for infant eating and sleeping but the babies refuse to adhere. "Perfect" parents, they're advised, keep having sex despite sleep deprivation, crying babies, and all-night breastfeeding. These couples, not a single parent among them, are all wealthy, living in large homes, with access to help, and with the funds to pay for care and food. The dramatic questions raised: Will the militant mom allow the sperm donor to co-parent? Will the rigid mom loosen up? Will the culturally-mixed couple agree on a sheep sacrifice at the son's circumcision?

Is It Any Good?

The satirical tone, crucial to The Wonder Years' reason for existence, gets lost in the shuffle of absurd parental obsession with raising perfect kids in a perfect way. The "troubles" (and they are minor) of three privileged couples are featured but the transitions from one couple to another feel forced. There is no throughline of narrative thematic shared experience that logically puts all these disparate couples in the same movie. And these parents remain blissfully oblivious to the fact that their "problems" are almost entirely self-created. Viewers who can identify a single self-indulgent, over-privileged parent to care about here may find something redeeming in this chronicle of what's wrong with parenting today. Everyone else can skip this.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how first-time parents may feel uncertain about how to raise children and may embrace terrible advice about child-rearing. What pieces of advice would you ignore from this movie?

How do you think most new parents learn to take care of their kids?

Why do you think new parents are especially vulnerable to trendy advice? How does the movie illustrate this?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : June 9, 2023
• Cast : Sallie Harmsen , Katja Schuurman , Soy Kroon
• Directors : Appie Boudellah , Aram van de Rest
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Comedy
• Run time : 110 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : December 6, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

The Wonder Weeks Ending, Explained: Do Anne and Barry Break Up?

Directed by Appie Boudellah and Aram van de Rest, Netflix’s ‘The Wonder Weeks’ is a Dutch comedy film featuring fun family dynamics across three distinct families. After the birth of her firstborn daughter, perfectionist Anne faces trouble juggling her demanding job with a demanding baby at home. At the same time, Anne’s friend Ilse’s opinions about raising her baby clashes with her boyfriend Sabri’s culture. Meanwhile, Kaj, a sperm donor, tries to prove his worth as a father to Kim and Roos, the mothers of his biological kids. After Anne joins Kim’s Mamas For Mamas organization, the new parents try to help each other through the complications of parenthood . If you’re curious to see where the story takes Anne, Kaj, Ilse, and their families, here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘The Wonder Weeks.’ SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Wonder Weeks Plot Synopsis

After giving birth to her healthy daughter, Mia, Anne is a little disappointed to see Mia only get a seven on her Apgar score. A few months later, Anne and her husband Barry take Mia to the pediatrician and learn Mia is slightly overweight, which may affect her motor skills later. Anne, who hasn’t been able to enroll Mia in daycare yet, excessively obsesses with the baby’s care and draws up numerous charts and schedules. However, she also returns to work at her law firm, leaving Barry to look after Mia while he works from home.

At the same time, after Sabri’s mother comes over to stay at their house, Ilse finds out that Sabri wants to circumcise their baby, Samhi, as per his culture. Meanwhile, in pursuit of proving his worth to Kim, Kaj starts spending quality time with Didi. Eventually, Kim and Roos agree to give Kaj a shot and draw up a provisional co-parenting plan between them and Kaj with Anne’s legal help. Afterward, Kim offers to hook Anne up with daycare by making her a part of her resourceful Mamas For Mamas organization. Even though Anne already has her hands full, with a fussy baby at home and a big celebrity divorce case at work, she agrees to join Kim’s club.

As a result, Kim signs Anne up for a Mamas For Mamas Healthy Day event and connects Anne with a professional babysitter, Hester. On the event’s day, Kaj further aggravates Kim’s already existing dislike for him by accidentally locking toddler Teun in his car for a little while. By association, Anne also lands herself in trouble with Kim and also misses an important work meeting after it gets shifted forward. Things at home also worsen for Anne after her daughter continues to gain weight despite Anne’s vigorous planning. Likewise, Ilse and Sabri’s home life becomes chaotic after Sabri’s relatives come over for Samhi’s circumcision ceremony.

Eventually, Ilse learns about the ceremonial sheep offering and starts to question her agreement to Samhi’s circumcision. As Samhi’s ceremony nears, Kim overhears Roos talking to Kaj about his secret criminal record. As such, she visits Anne and asks her to look into Kaj’s files while subtly dangling the daycare arrangement in front of her as an incentive. When Anne stays over at the office to do the same, she misses out on date night with Barry, putting further strain on their relationship. Nevertheless, she finds out about Kaj’s criminal records, which results in Kim calling the CPS on Kaj and taking Didi and Teun away from him.

A few days before Samhi’s ceremony, Anne discovers her husband masturbating to Hester’s social media  over the baby monitors. As a result, Anne snaps at Barry at the ceremony, causing a rift between them. Simultaneously, Ilse decides to make a run for it with Samhi and the sheep without anyone noticing. Due to the same, Sabri’s brother confuses Teun, whom Anne put in Samhi’s nursery, with Samhi and ends up taking him to get circumcised.

The Wonder Weeks Ending: Do Anne and Barry Break Up?

After Mia’s birth, Anne and Barry’s relationship suffers from some complications. Since both Anne and Barry are working parents, neither can give Mia their full attention. Moreover, Mia has trouble sleeping through the night and continuously wakes the pair up by crying. Usually, Anne ends up taking the night shift trying to lull Mia back to sleep while Barry juggles his work and the baby in the morning. Therefore, there’s already some tension in their relationship from the get-go.

Anne’s obsessive perfectionist streak doesn’t help their relationship either. Although she tries to make time for her relationship with Barry, she constantly gets distracted by Mia or her work. Due to the same, Anne is also always stressed without any outlet for her frustration. Therefore, shortly after she realizes Barry is attracted to Hester, she dumps Barry.

A few days after Barry moves out of their house, Mia says her first word, “Mama.” In her pure happiness, Anne calls out to Barry to share the moment with him but realizes he’s gone. Eventually, after a conversation with Kaj, Mia visits Barry at his workplace. Anne admits to having been too controlling since Mia’s birth. Anne asks Barry to return home, and the two agree to work on their problems and get back together.

Does Kaj Get To Co-Parent His Kids?

Like, Anne, Kim is someone who likes to be in control, which is why she’s reluctant to let Kaj be a part of her kids’ lives in a parental capacity. However, even though she doesn’t believe Kaj is responsible enough to take care of the kids , she still agrees to give him a chance at her partner’s insistence. However, Kaj only repeatedly proves Kim’s point to her.

Kaj takes Teun for a car ride at night to get him to sleep while leaving Didi alone at home. During the car ride, Kaj accidentally swerves off the road, activating the emergency airbags. As a result, he has to call Kim and Roos, who are both unpleased by his behavior. The same incident pushes Kim to look into Kaj’s background and involve Child Protective Services.

Kaj assumes Roos told Kim about his past online scam records, but at Samhi’s ceremony finds out Anne helped Kim investigate his background. After the ceremony, Kaj continues to interact with Didi and Teun but isn’t allowed to take them home with him. Regardless of Kaj’s missteps, he truly does want to be a good father to Didi and her siblings. He changes his lifestyle for the kids and has a connection with them.

In the end, Roos’ water breaks when she’s at a park with her kids alongside Anne and Kaj. Kaj takes his best friend to the hospital, while Anne takes over Didi and Teun and rushes to inform Kim. At the hospital, Roos goes into labor with Kaj beside her. However, the doctors rush her to the operating room for a cesarian birth. When Kim arrives at the hospital, Kaj comforts her, and the pair waits for Roos’ surgery to be over together. As a result, after Roos gives birth, Kim extends an olive branch to Kaj. She asks him to look over Didi and Teun for a few days while the couple settles in with the new baby. As such, Kaj becomes a part of Kim and Roos’ family as a third parent to Didi, Teun, and their new baby.

Does Ilse Agree To Circumcise Her Baby?

While chaos reigns at Samhi’s circumcision Ceremony after Teun accidentally gets circumcised, Ilse runs away with Samhi to set the sheep free to a farm. Throughout the film, Ilse and Sabri have trouble with effective communication. They both have their respective opinions about their son’s name, which sets the course for their disagreements about his upbringing later.

Sabri wants his son to grow up with his family’s culture and traditions. Nevertheless, he isn’t upfront about the specifics of the same. For instance, Ilse doesn’t find out about the sheep sacrificial ceremony until she finds the animal in her bathtub. However, instead of expressing her discomfort about the animal sacrifice, Ilse wordlessly ignores the situation at hand until it’s too late.

As a result, on the day of, she runs away, leaving Sabri’s family feeling disrespected. As a result, all of Sabri’s relatives move out of the house. Eventually, Sabri and Ilse talk about their problems, and Ilse confesses to being scared of disappointing Sabri. Due to the same, she kept her discomfort silent. In the end, Sabri and Ilse mutually agree to circumcise Samhi to keep him connected to his father’s culture but draw the line at the sheep tradition to stay true to his mother’s morals.

Read More: Is Netflix’s The Wonder Weeks Based on a True Story?

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The Wonder Weeks Ending Explained – what happens with each mother?

We discuss the ending of the 2023 Netflix film The Wonder Weeks, which will contain significant spoilers and plot twists.

The Wonder Weeks   has three young mothers who want to help each other on this journey. They develop this “Mama Club” to help each other and other pregnant women. It’s a sweet premise that hasn’t been done before, and it was refreshing to see young mothers unite under one roof to help each other out.

The three couples; Anne and Barry, Kim and Roos, and Ilse and Sabri, have a unique story to which many couples can relate.

Anne and Barry just gave birth to their baby girl, and she has to return to work now that her maternity leave is finished. So that adjustment of getting back into a routine and leaving her baby to go to work is a hurdle most mothers have to endure.

Kim is the group’s founder and is married to Roos; they are a lesbian couple who seek the help of their friend Kaj (also their sperm donor) to make their dreams as parents possible.

The three have a unique dynamic, leading to a thread of different ways to have a child.

What  The Wonder Weeks  does well is show the full pregnancy spectrum and what each couple goes through. It reflects modern society and the many obstacles one can face when bringing a child into this world.

Life is never simple, and emotional moments show those struggles, along with anecdotes through the comedic moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XANarv2Dg0U

The Wonder Weeks Ending Explained

As the film plays out, there are some questionable moments between Anne and Barry with their newborn causing tension between them. No one talks about the stress your marriage goes under when the newborn is the central focus of everything in your world. You tend to forget about each other and focus on the baby.

Do Anne and Barry make it?

When Mia is born, their relationship does suffer. They both work, and it’s hard for them to balance parenthood and being a working parent. Again, the adjustment causes so much stress because it becomes overwhelming. Like many children, Mia has trouble sleeping at night and constantly wakes up crying. Which shift would you take, the morning or the night? This causes Anne and Barry to slowly come to their wits end, trying to make both parts of the day work with Mia.

Anne is a workaholic and doesn’t realize that she can’t split her time with Barry and Mia and solely focuses on Mia after work. Anne finds out that Barry is attracted to someone else, and she calls it quits.

Barry moves out of the house for a while, but she soon realizes she does want to share every moment of Mia’s life with Barry, and they reconcile after she says she will work on herself.

Does Kaj get to be with his kid?

Kim and Anne have similar controlling tendencies, which is one reason she’s apprehensive about letting Kaj be part of their lives in a parental stance. In a way, their child is just as much his as it is theirs. It’s not so much the notion of co-parenting because of biology but because they don’t believe he’s responsible enough actually to take care of a child.

After a series of unfortunate events with their two other children, Roos’ water breaks, and she’s at the park with her kids alongside Anne and Kaj. Kaj helps and takes her to the hospital, and Roos goes into labor with him beside her. Instead of a natural birth, they need to operate on her and perform a C-section which scares Kim, but he is there for her.

At this moment, Kim realizes just how responsible he is and welcomes him as a third parent.

Does Ilse decide on circumcision?

Samhi’s circumcision goes a bit off the rails, and Teun accidentally gets circumcised. Ilse and Sabri have had issues communicating with one another, and they both have their opinions on their son’s name, which inevitably causes issues for them in the future. They cannot decide on many things because they think differently. Ilse and Sabri decide to keep traditions in their own way to honor them.

They choose to circumcise their son but draw the line at the sacrificial sheep ceremony because of Ilse’s wishes. Compromise is the only way to move forward and the best way to work things out.

What did you think of the ending of the 2023 Netflix film The Wonder Weeks? Comment below.

Article by Amanda Guarragi

Amanda Guarragi joined Ready Steady Cut as an Entertainment Writer in June 2022. She is a Toronto-based film critic who has covered TIFF, Sundance Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, and HorrorFest International. Amanda is also a growing YouTuber, with her channel Candid Cinema growing in popularity.

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