Extra Credit: Parenting Movies to Stream After ‘Wonder’
In the weekly column Extra Credit, Charles Bramesco recommends supplemental viewing for moviegoers whose interests have been piqued by a given week’s big new release.
The tricky thing about parenting is that there are dozens of wrong ways to do it, many of which involve dirt bikes, and yet no single correct way. Mary Poppins used a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down, Mrs. Doubtfire found that well-intentioned deception paved the most direct route to a child’s heart, and Marlin the clownfish had to outgrow his helicopter-parent tendencies to let little Nemo have a life of his own. Like first love and marriage, child-rearing covers a vast emotional spectrum almost universally known to audiences, making it a fertile seeding ground for drama.
This weekend’s Wonder goes a bit more specific, exploring the tender home life of Auggie Pullman (Jacob Tremblay), a can-do kid with an extreme facial deformity due to Treacher Collins syndrome. As he prepares for a new year at a new school with judgmental classmates and uncomfortable teachers, the unflagging support from his parents (Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts) gives him courage to face the day.
In the spirit of affections both paternal and maternal, we’ve put together a sampling of films about the highs and lows of parenting, all of which are available to stream online. From the bubbly to the disturbing, here’s what to expect after you’ve finished expecting: