Roald Dahl was never interested in being "nice." He liked his villains ugly and his jokes mean. Netflix’s take on The Twits honors that spirit by being aggressively unpleasant in the way only a 9-year-old could love. If your household is currently in a phase where "butt" is a punchline and "gross" is a compliment, this is your Friday night sorted.
The Gross-Out Threshold
If you’ve spent any time in a house with a third-grader lately, you know that "gross" is a primary food group. Director Phil Johnston—who knows his way around a high-concept comedy—leans into this with a level of commitment that would make a Garbage Pail Kid blush. We’re talking 103 minutes of worms, glass eyes, and a relentless barrage of bathroom humor.
The friction for parents isn't the scares—though the recommendation to keep this away from the under-8 crowd is solid—it’s the repetition. The humor is a bit of a one-trick pony. If you’ve seen one prank involving a "bird pie," you’ve seen them all. But while the comedy feels safe and predictable to us, it’s exactly the kind of slapstick that lands with the elementary school set. It’s one of the more high-profile entries in the best animated shows and kids cartoons coming in 2025, and it sets a very specific, messy tone for the Netflix-Dahl era.
More Than Just Farts
The movie does some heavy lifting to expand a very slim book. The addition of Beesha and Bubsy, the orphaned siblings, gives the story a necessary heart. It turns a tale about two people being awful to each other into a story about teamwork.
The most interesting move here is the "Twits for Mayor" subplot. It’s a sharp bit of satire about how easily loud, mean-spirited people can trick a crowd. It’s the "parental bonus" content of the movie—a layer of commentary that might actually spark a real conversation about leadership and character after the credits roll. If your kids enjoyed the high-energy family chaos and mythology in The Casagrandes Movie, they’ll likely vibe with the pacing and the "kids vs. the world" stakes here.
How to Handle the "Ick"
Don't expect the emotional complexity of a Pixar film or the witty wordplay of Paddington. This is a movie that wants to be loud. Johnny Vegas and Margo Martindale voice the villains with a grotesque energy that makes them genuinely fun to hate, but they are consistently, unrelentingly cruel.
If you have a kid who tends to parrot what they see on screen, you might want to have a quick "we don't actually put worms in people's spaghetti" talk. Otherwise, treat it as a colorful, slightly exhausting diversion. It’s a "rainy day" movie—perfect for when you need to park the kids in front of something bright and fast-paced while you get things done in the other room. Just don't be surprised if they come back asking if they can run for mayor.
