The Wonder Weeks follows young couples as they try to adapt to the changes that come with parenthood. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Roos and Kim have two children, Didi and Teun, and are now trying to have a third one. Like the first two times, they ask Roos’ best friend, Kaj, to donate the sperm once again, and he agrees.
Roos gets pregnant again, and this time, Kaj wants to be a part of the children’s lives. He wants to be Roos and Kim’s family and look after the children. Despite Kim’s initial hesitation, Roos and Kim agree to this arrangement.
Barry and Anne have a daughter, Mia, and the doctor tells them that Mia is growing faster than what is considered normal, which makes Anne try to control everything about Mia. It is not an easy task, as Anne is a lawyer and has to go back to work.
Barry also has a hard time working from home and taking care of Mia at the same time. The doctor thinks that sending Mia to the daycare will help with her development, but all nurseries in Anne and Barry’s area are already full.
Anne finds out that the waiting list at the daycare center is still 12 months, but there are reserved seats for the children of those mothers who are members of a club called Moms for Moms.
Ilse and Sabri are not married and have a son, Samih. Sabri’s mother comes to live with them to help them take care of the baby, which makes Ilse uncomfortable.
Since Anne, Ilse, Roos, and Kim know each other, Roos and Kim ask Anne to handle the legal details when they draw up a co-parenting plan with Kaj. Kim is still not sure about Kaj’s ability to look after the children, so Anne suggests opting for a trial period first.
Roos and Kim then invite Anne to be a part of the Moms for Moms club, which was founded by Kim. The club provides access to the best schools, daycare, lessons, and more. They even organize baby showers and gender reveal parties.
Kaj hides his criminal past from Kim in order to be a part of the children’s lives. Roos and Kim send their children to live with him, and he struggles to be a responsible father to two children. Mia keeps Anne and Barry awake at night, and Ilse has to get used to the presence of Sabri’s family.
Sabri’s mother does not like Ilse, as she is not Moroccan. She wants to circumcise Samih, and while Ilse is not comfortable with the idea, she agrees because she wants her son to experience the cultures of both his parents.
Kim not only arranges a babysitter, Hester, for Mia but also takes her for reiki. After that, Mia starts sleeping peacefully at night. Anne’s life starts going back to the way it used to be, and she gets the opportunity to make a partner at her firm.
However, Anne is still a little too controlling when it comes to Mia. She keeps monitoring Hester when she is with Mia via the cameras in her house. Her obsessive tendencies start affecting her relationship with Barry as well.
Meanwhile, Kaj keeps messing up and fails to be a responsible father. While Roos is understanding, Kim is much less forgiving. On top of that, Kim overhears him talking to Roos about his criminal record.
Ilse finds out that the circumcision ceremony will involve slaughtering a sheep, which makes her even more uneasy about the whole ceremony. Despite her disapproval, Sabri plans to go ahead with the slaughtering of the sheep.
Kim arranges a spot at the daycare for Mia and asks Anne to go through Kaj’s file again. Anne is reluctant to do that, as that information is confidential, but she does it anyway and shares Kaj’s criminal record with Kim because she does not want to lose the daycare spot.
Kim then shows up at Kaj’s house to take her children back home. She also reports Kaj to Child Services without telling Roos, and Kaj’s parental authority is withdrawn.
On the other hand, Anne finds out that she is going to be a partner at her firm and that Mia is finally showing signs of development, but she still cannot be happy, as she sees Barry masturbating to Hester’s pictures, which aggravates Anne’s existing insecurities.
The Wonder Weeks ending explained in detail:
Why does Barry leave Anne?
Anne sees Hester and Barry talking at Samih’s circumcision ceremony and decides to fire Hester without consulting Barry. When Barry confronts her about it, she reveals that she saw him masturbating to Hester’s pictures.
Barry tries to assure her that it meant nothing, but Hester overhears this conversation, and Barry goes after her to talk to her about it. Barry then moves out of their house, leaving Anne to take care of Mia all on her own.
Why do Kim and Anne fight?
At the ceremony, Anne takes Teun to the nursery and puts him in the cradle next to Samih. Ilse realizes that she cannot let Sabri’s family slaughter the sheep, so she takes her son with her to set the sheep free.
When it is time for the circumcision and Ilse is nowhere to be found, Sabri’s brother comes to get Samih. He mistakes Teun for Samih and takes him for the ceremony. Sabri tries to stop his mother from going ahead with the ceremony without Ilse, but his mother does not listen.
Sabri then realizes that the child who has been circumcised is Teun, not Samih. Kim blames Anne for the mishap and calls her a bad mother. Due to this, Anne points out that Kim manipulates everyone to get her way without caring who gets hurt.
Anne declares that she will no longer be a part of Moms for Moms, and that is when Kaj confronts Kim and Roos about reporting him to Child Services. When Roos denies having a part in it, Kaj realizes that it was Anne who helped Kim and feels betrayed.
Do Sabri’s mother and Ilse reconcile?
Sabri’s mother gets offended after the disastrous ceremony and leaves Sabri and Ilse’s house. Sabri and Ilse finally talk about their problems, and Ilse admits that she did not voice out her concerns earlier because she did not want to disappoint him.
Sabri’s mother does return, and Ilse apologizes to her. The two women mend their differences. They decide to circumcise Samih, but without slaughtering the sheep this time, and Ilse tells Sabri’s mother that she is welcome to stay at their place whenever she wishes.
Do Anne and Kim change?
Barry’s absence makes Anne miss him, especially when she wants to share Mia’s special moments with him. Anne then goes to apologize to Kaj, and he makes her understand that she does not need to be the perfect mother.
At that very moment, Roos’ water breaks. Anne takes Roos’ children with her to get Kim, while Kaj takes Roos to the hospital. The fact that Anne chose to be there for her and Roos despite their differences moves Kim, and the two women go back to being friends.
When Roos faces complications during her delivery, Kaj comforts Kim. The baby is born healthy, and Kim decides to give Kaj another chance to be a father to their children. She now understands that he needs time to learn, and this time, she is willing to teach him.
Anne also goes to talk to Barry, as she now sees the error of her ways. She asks Barry to come back home, and he agrees. The two of them seem happy together on Mia’s birthday, and it is revealed that Hester still occasionally babysits Mia.