The new Netflix Original movie, Wendell and Wild, is a heartwarming yet spooky stopmotion film directed by Jordan Peele and Henry Selick. Selick is also the director of the movie Coraline.

The movie is the perfect balance of funny and gloomy and a memorable lesson is taught through the actions and experiences of the characters, which makes it easy to relate to them. 

Wendell and Wild follows 13 year old juvenile delinquent Kat as she returns to her hometown five years after the car crash that killed her parents. Kat is enrolled in an all girls Catholic boarding school, and promptly expresses her dislike for it. Kat stands out from the rest of the students, but she’s not your typical “social pariah new girl” stereotype. 

Kat is a darkskinned Black girl that dons a punk-rock style and green hair that sets her apart from typical Black representation in media. She’s a “strong Black woman”, but also shows weakness frequently during the movie, giving her depth as a character beyond just her Blackness. Kat’s uniqueness and unapologetic confidence is unlike any we’ve seen in media, and it makes her extremely likeable.

 On the first day at her new school, Kat meets Raúl, a fellow outcast – however, Raúl’s reason for straying away from the other students differs from Kat’s; it’s because he’s transgender. Raúl’s identity as a transgender male is never questioned or used as a point of conflict in the movie, instead it’s used as a way to form a connection that evolves to a friendship between him and Kat. 

“Once we [Peele and Selick] agreed that’s what we were going to do [include Raúl’s trans identity], it just fed into our story so much with his friends and his having an interest in Kat, the new outsider — him being intrigued by her and having this sense of faith in her,” director Selick said.

The characters Wendell and Wild are Kat’s own personal demons that she bargains with in order to bring her parents back from the dead. They are voice acted by the comedy duo Key and Peele.

The moods that are touched on during the film incorporate the perfect balance of eeriness and emotion, making it an excellent Halloween movie for those that aren’t fans of super scary movies. And although Halloween has passed, Wendell and Wild is still a great watch for family movie nights around the holiday season. It reminds us to appreciate the time we have with our relatives, and to not take it for granted.