Story

Red (Kylie Cantrall) and Chloe (Malia Baker) are now close friends, having bonded while travelling back in time to save their respective mothers. But as they start their new lives as friends, they realise that things are not as they should be. Unfortunately, playing with time has had some unexpected consequences, and Red’s previously close friend Maddox (Leonardo Nam) has become a villain.

When Maddox imprisons Red’s mother (Rita Ora) and takes over Wonderland, Red, Chloe and their mismatched team of peers travel back to Wonderland to set things right. In a race against time, will Red and Chloe’s friendship survive long enough to save Red’s mother and defeat Maddox?

Themes

Parent-child relationships; heroes and villains; difficult family relationships; negative self-image; stereotypes

Violence

Descendants: Wicked Wonderland has some violence. For example:

• Characters get chased by evil characters, fall down holes or almost get crushed by various objects. They’re always uninjured.
• Red has a lot of self-doubt and criticises herself.
• Other characters often call Red ‘heartless’ and imply that she’s manipulative or deceitful.
• ‘Villain’ characters often mildly bully ‘hero’ characters by teasing or shoving them.
• A character mentions that they ripped the wings off Tinkerbell.
• A character is criticised and called a ‘nepo-baby’.
• The narrator mentions that a character is going to have their head chopped off.
• Maddox uses a sleeping gas to knock out several characters.
• Maddox imprisons 2 female characters and often criticises them.
• Characters argue with each other in raised voices.
• A character smashes several objects in anger.
• Chloe twirls a knife threateningly.
• Characters are transformed into tiny versions of themselves. In a highly choreographed fight scene, evil characters explode into puffs of purple smoke.
• A father yells at his son.

Sexual references

Descendants: Wicked Wonderland has some sexual references. For example:

• Two characters often flirt and hold hands. They also perform a romantic song.
• Red trips and falls into the arms of a male character, who smiles at her flirtatiously.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no use of substances in Descendants: Wicked Wonderland.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity or sexual activity in Descendants: Wicked Wonderland.

Product placement

Descendants: Wicked Wonderland frequently mentions other popular Disney characters and movies, including Cinderella, Encanto and Alice in Wonderland.

Coarse language

Descendants: Wicked Wonderland has some coarse language, name-calling and insults, including ‘What the fluff?’, ‘screw it up’, ‘stupid kids’, ‘What in the hat?’, ‘fool’ and ‘brat’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Descendants: Wicked Wonderland is the fifth instalment in the Descendants franchise and follows directly from the events of the previous instalment. It’s full of dynamic musical numbers and teen drama.

We don’t recommend Descendants: Wicked Wonderland for children aged under 8 years because of its violence and scary scenes. Also, we recommend parental guidance for children aged 8-10 years because the movie has some heavy themes related to turbulent parent-child relationships. For families with older children, it’s likely to be an enjoyable watch, although its storyline is somewhat repetitive compared to the rest of the franchise.

The main messages from Descendants: Wicked Wonderland are that your actions define you more than any label and that you must embrace all aspects of yourself.

Values in Descendants: Wicked Wonderland that you could reinforce with your children include friendship, teamwork, family bonds, resilience, perseverance and responsibility.

Descendants: Wicked Wonderland could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life questions and issues like the following:

• Both Red and Chloe have complex relationships with their mothers because of past events.
• When Chloe and Red come back to the present, they realise that their actions have consequences. Can you think of any times in your life when your actions have affected other people?
• Chloe says that she thinks it’s OK to break rules for the greater good. You could discuss the pros and cons of this idea.
• Red doesn’t listen to Chloe or tune in to her emotions. What does being a good friend look like in real life? You could talk about healthy communication and conflict resolution.
• Chessy manipulates everyone, talking behind people’s backs and turning them against each other. You could talk about how this behaviour harms people and relationships.
• The ‘villain’ characters almost always wear alternative clothing. You could talk about how this stereotypes them and how stereotypes can be harmful.