Descendants: Wicked Wonderland

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Descendants: Wicked Wonderland
• a review of Descendants: Wicked Wonderland completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 28 July 2026.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Red (Kylie Cantrall) and Chloe (Malia Baker) are now close friends, having bonded over travelling back in time to save their respective mothers. However, as they start the day in their new lives, 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?

Parent/Child relationships; Heroes and Villains; Difficult family relationships; Negative self-image; Stereotypes.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Throughout the film, characters are seen in peril, either getting chased by evil characters, falling down holes or almost getting crushed by various objects. This always ends up fine, with no injury.
• Red has a lot of self-doubt and verbally berates herself.
• Other characters often call Red “heartless” and imply that she is a manipulative or two-faced person.
• Throughout the film, the ‘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 berated and called a ‘nepo-baby’.
• The narrator mentions that a character was going to have their head chopped off.
• Several characters are knocked out by some kind of sleeping gas by Maddox.
• Maddox imprisons two female characters, often verbally berating them.
• Characters argue with each other, using raised voices.
• A character smashes several objects in anger.
• Chloe twirls a knife threateningly.
• Characters are transformed into tiny versions of themselves, and in a highly choreographed fight scene, evil characters explode into puffs of purple smoke.
• A father yells at his son.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Cute flamingos suddenly turn evil and transform into scary-looking versions of themselves, chasing the characters and trying to bite them.
• Shadow flamingos are hit with a mallet and explode into a ball of purple smoke.
• A flower is transformed to a blackened version of itself, snapping its petals like teeth at a character.
• Glass shatters and scary-looking mechanical birds fly out, while a character laughs menacingly in the background.
• A scary swell of music as several stone gargoyle statues crumble and collapse, trapping a character underneath and nearly crushing him.
• A character is consumed by moving hedges.
• When the ground collapses around them, characters fall down into a room with scary-looking gargoyles with glowing red eyes.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Red’s mother is kidnapped by Maddox, and she struggles with feelings of not being good enough.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• There are frequent mentions of other popular Disney characters/films, such as Cinderella, Encanto and Alice in Wonderland, among others.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Two characters often flirt and hold hands throughout the duration of the film, even having a romantic musical number between them.
• Red trips and falls into the arms of a male character, who smiles at her flirtatiously.

Nudity and sexual activity

• None noted.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• “What the fluff?”
• Screw it up
• Stupid kids
• “What in the hat?”
• Fool
• Brat.

In a nutshell

Directly following the events of the previous instalment, Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, the fifth instalment in the Descendants franchise, is a film full of dynamic musical numbers and teen drama. While the storyline is somewhat repetitive compared to the rest of the franchise, it is still an enjoyable enough watch for families. This film is not recommended for children under 8 due to violence and scary scenes, with parental guidance recommended to 10 due to some heavy themes of turbulent parent-child relationships.

The main messages from this movie are that your actions define you rather than any label; and that to be truly you, you must embrace all sides of yourself.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Friendship
• Teamwork
• Family bonds
• Resilience
• Perseverance
• Taking accountability.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Parents may want to note that while there is an overall theme of the mother-daughter relationship, both Red and Chloe have complex relationships with their mothers due to the events of the previous film.
• 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 where your actions have affected other people?
• Chloe mentions that she believes it is okay to break rules for the greater good. Parents may want to discuss this with their children, and highlight the difference between being an individual and potentially doing the wrong thing.
• Red doesn’t listen to Chloe and isn’t hearing her emotions. How do you think you can make sure that you are a good friend in real life? Parents may want to take the time to discuss healthy communication and conflict resolution with their children.
• Chessy manipulates everyone, talking in their ear and turning the teens against each other. Parents may want to discuss with their children why this behaviour is harmful and can be very hurtful to the people around you.
• It is notable that the villain characters are almost always portrayed wearing alternative clothing. Parents may want to discuss the possible impact of stereotyping others based on what they wear or how they present themselves, and that this is a harmful way of thinking.