Is the Fantastic Beasts franchise for adults or children?

Because The Crimes of Grindelwald certainly has few children in it

The strangest thing about Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — the latest film set in the Harry Potter universe, out Friday — is how adult it wants to be.

Just as the Potter books and films aged up with their young audience when they were first released, the Beasts pictures are darker, both visually and narratively — especially compared to the family fun of the first few Harry Potter movies. It's rare to see a kid-centric series leave childhood behind so fully. The two Beasts even break from the later, darker Potter movies by following an all-adult cast.

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Jesse Hassenger

Jesse Hassenger's film and culture criticism has appeared in The Onion's A.V. Club, Brooklyn Magazine, and Men's Journal online, among others. He lives in Brooklyn, where he also writes fiction, edits textbooks, and helps run SportsAlcohol.com, a pop culture blog and podcast.