There’s Something Wrong with the Children (2023) Review

 Review of "There's Something Wrong With the Children": Uncertain Direction Obstructs an Interesting Idea

Children are terrifying even when there is no supernatural aspect involved, which is why the creepy kid stereotype has endured for so long in horror. Anyone who has ever spent time with youngsters can attest to the fact that they often engage in risky behavior and make outlandish statements for no apparent reason. In addition, children are essentially little adults in that they lack a strong moral compass that would prohibit them from acting on their most twisted dreams.

The fact that children are such a good target audience for horror also means that the market is flooded with spooky children's tales that all seem too familiar to be frightening or interesting. It's to Blumhouse's credit that their newest film, There's Something Wrong With the Children, takes a somewhat different approach to exploring the theme. Unfortunately, while having a fantastic cast and a well-written story, the film suffers from a lack of confidence in its direction, which undermines the promise of the interesting subject.

The events in There's Something Wrong With the Children take place in a set of remote log cabins occupied by two families for a weekend getaway. Ellie (Amanda Crew), Thomas (Carlos Santos), and their children, Lucy (Briella Guiza) and Spencer (Spencer James), come first. (David Mattle). Although Ellie and Thomas are having marital difficulties, they both insist that their children are the finest thing that has ever happened to them. Margo (Alisha Wainwright) and Ben (Zach Gilford), a childless couple who prioritized their professions above the difficulties of motherhood, are traveling with Ellie and Thomas on their holidays. The second couple had history of conflict because of Ben's erratic mental state. Nonetheless, they are doing well and are beginning to question whether they shouldn't establish a family of their own in response to peer pressure and because they like spending time with Ellie and Thomas' kids.

There's Something Wrong With the Children's villainous kidsCredit: MGM+

This is a great dramatic setting since it removes the individuals from society and forces them to deal with their own conflicts and aspirations. However, There's Something Wrong With the Children promises to discuss serious topics, such as how women feel they have a deadline when it comes to having children, how couples need time apart from the children if they want to keep their marriage strong, and how the stigma of mental illness breeds mistrust among loved ones. There's Something Wrong With the Children wants so much to be a horror picture that it sacrifices depth in its character development for the sake of its genre.
There's Something Wrong With the Children foreshadows that Lucy and Spencer will discover something in the woods that causes them to modify their behavior. The children's increased hostility leads to awkward interactions that drive the parents to fight with one another. These malicious deeds, however, never vary too far from what children do in the real world, and it looks as if There's Something Wrong With the Children wants the viewer to wonder whether the kids are being sinister on purpose or if it's just part of their innocent play. This, along with the outstanding work of the whole adult ensemble, has the potential to build to a tense and unsettling climax. However, There's Something Wrong With the Children often forgets subtlety is a strong technique, and this distracts from the film's emotional impact by constantly calling attention to the fact that it is a horror film.

Image courtesy of MGM+There's Something Wrong with the Children stars Briella Guiza and Zach Gilford.

When the camera locks upon one of the children's evil expressions, it stays still for an excessive amount of time, removing any lingering doubt about the true character of the little villains. The camera moves in strange ways, adding to the unsettling atmosphere. The same is true of dramatic sequences that fail to make an effect because of this. The issue of sound mixing also has to be addressed. While The Gifted's original songs are excellent on their own, the show's reliance on a creepy score means there's never a chance to relax and get to know the characters.
Perhaps the limited budget of There's Something Wrong With the Children and the pressure of the Blumhouse label kept it from being as brutal and nasty as it wanted to be. The reality remains that audience participation in a horror film is enhanced when we care about the protagonists. However, the picture fails to scare because the drama is underplayed in favor of dubious directing choices, and it also fails to address all the topics it raises. Casual viewers won't mind There's Something Wrong With the Children in its current state, but it hurts to see such a great cast waste their talents on such a boring horror film.

There's a Problem with the Kids: Why Violent Youth Shouldn't Have All the Fun

There is already a contender for the most spot-on movie title of 2023, and it comes less than a month into the year. Whether you like or despise "There's Something Wrong with the Children," you have to admit that there is really something wrong with those kids. The headline might have been "A Sad Orgy Can Really Ruin Your Life," which is also true.  The newest film from Blumhouse is a worthy addition to one of horror's most dependable subgenres, and it stands out from the crowd thanks to its gripping adult drama and a wonderful supernatural twist reminiscent of the work of the Duffer Brothers. And it's a lot more fun than a January horror film released straight to streaming should be.

Like her first feature, "Body at Brighton Rock," Roxanne Benjamin's second film harkens back to a time when horror films were really entertaining. Although it takes place in the current day and is not a throwback film, it has many of the aesthetic characteristics that may have sent it to the top of the box office in 1986. A synthesized soundtrack that may have been lifted from a John Carpenter film. A title card using the font used on the covers of Stephen King's books. And an openness to goofing around without resorting to the "self-awareness" that ruins so many horror films nowadays.

Friends since college, Margaret (Alisha Wainwright) and Ben (Zach Gilford) and Ellie (Amanda Crew) and Thomas (Carlos Santos) are increasingly drifting apart as they navigate adulthood. Ellie and Thomas are fully committed to parenting their two children, Lucy (Brielle Guiza) and Spencer (David Mattle). Margaret and Ben, on the other hand, are satisfied as can be with their life of constant travel and lack of children. The novelty of taking a vacation with their friends' kids every once in a while is nice, but who wants to always be responsible for another person?

Everyone sees this weekend away from the city in the woods as a win-win situation, even the four friends (and two kids) who made the decision to go. Everyone gets some exercise and fresh air as the college friends catch up and Margaret and Ben fulfill their yearly "spending time with kids" requirement. Something seems off from the minute the group checks into their luxurious Airbnb accommodations. Clearly on edge, Ellie and Thomas are constantly snapping at one other, making the whole trip virtually unbearable.

As expected, their buddies are wondering what went wrong, and it turns out that a terrible foursome did occur. The two parents admit they recently tried something similar to swinging with another spouse in an effort to spice up their sexual lives. The outcome was disastrous. A gap opened up in their marriage as a result of the night, and they can't seem to find the time to mend it. They finally come up with a fantastic plan: Mom and Dad can spend the night away from the kids by leaving them with Margaret and Ben at the cabin.

Review of There Is a Problem with the Kids

The Children (2008) and Who Can Kill a Child? (1976) are both classics in the kid-gone-bad subgenre, and so is Roxanne Benjamin's There's Something Wrong With The Children (2012). The works of T.J. Cimfel and David White, on the other hand, are more interested in demon mysticism than in sporadic violence, hence they are not reflections of real life. By playing off their seeming innocence, Benjamin creates disturbing actions from the youngsters into tense situations. There's Something Wrong With The Children attempts to rectify the problem that horror directors seldom have the guts to confront cliches in which child characters suffer injury or become aggressors, but in an inconsistent dynamic shift that wades into muddy waters when making mental health accusations.

Margaret (Alisha Wainwright) and Ben (Zach Gilford) are the primary characters of the film; they are a couple who have chosen to spend their lives together rather than have a family. Ellie (Amanda Crew) and Thomas (Carlos Santos) are the prototypical American couple, bringing up Spencer (David Mattle), their youngest, and Lucy (Taylor Schilling), their oldest. (Briella Guiza). When Spencer and Lucy, under Margaret and Ben's supervision, vanish into the woods for the night, the four friends spending their holiday together in a cluster of cabins in the forest begin to worry that something bad will happen to them. Coaxing fear from a child's creative unpredictability, Benjamin tries to make us uncomfortable as Spencer and Lucy speak a strange language and get obsessed with a "shine" at the bottom of a murky well in an abandoned building.

An opening theme by The Sisters of Mercy's "More" twirls cinematography to create the mood for There's Something Wrong With The Children, which has an atmosphere that satisfies the need for a sophisticated midnighter. Benjamin emphasizes an upside-down instability that is recreated by Yaron Levy's camera as it zooms down on brilliant green insect zappers and switches viewpoints. Even in the gloomier scenes as kids look into hazy depths beneath cavernous shadows, the imagery is brilliantly colored, ranging from scarlet reds to evergreen forestation, producing this pop-sensationalism. In terms of style and vitality, Benjamin delivers on promises that are both pulpy and direct. There's a sinister undercurrent, and the conflict between embracing and ignoring genre conventions only increases.

Pairings work best on average, but sometimes don't in There's Something Wrong With The Children. As the pregnant hippies Gilford and Wainwright portray smoke cannabis and joke about forest pixies, the audience can't help but chuckle. As a married couple still trying to find their footing after diving headfirst into fatherhood, Crew and Santos walk a fine line as they try to reestablish their relationship on solid ground. Mattle and Guiza, two cunning little jackals who sell possession overtones as the antagonists Benjamin trusts to keep viewers wondering despite their deceitful behaviors, are another option. These two little actors know their roles, whether it's to cause a rift between two feuding adults who are programmed to trust youngsters blindly — particularly when maternal and paternal impulses kick in — or to smile these menacing smiles as blood pours from their nostrils.

A character arc concerning bipolar disease is only partially developed, and there are other, more fundamental flaws in There's Something Wrong With The Children that haven't been touched on here. Benjamin is unafraid of the debate that will inevitably arise about the relative merits of endorsement and portrayal (cf. the controversial ending of last year's Smile). The character's mental disease and downward spiral, however, are not clean. To illustrate the gap between society's acceptance and misunderstanding of these diagnosable outbursts, the youngsters consciously take advantage of the way others interpret mental health disorders by increasing the volume of their "crazy" words. That doesn't mean it gets a dissertation-level treatment; it's just a weapon used by bad guys.

The children's drama There’s Something Wrong With The Children is upbeat yet predictable.

In other contexts, Benjamin is able to maintain shine until the word "lack" is spoken. Taking inspiration from a wide range of kindertrauma thrillers, from Children of the Corn to what seem like particular screencaps that would mimic The Children, There's Something Wrong With The Children is energizing yet predictable. Despite the fact that Mattle and Guiza are scarier than radioactive cafeteria meals, the horror scenarios they dream about don't go beyond potentially fatal games of hide-and-seek or actions that make it seem like they're getting away with murder. Benjamin's insight is the ballast that keeps the ship afloat in turbulent waters, ensuring a safe journey despite the increased turbulence.

Final Judgment

Like a campfire story with a folklore twist, There's Something Wrong With The Children is comforting in its focus on parental taming and illegitimate progeny. Roxanne Benjamin produces a generational thriller that uses age-awarded innocence as a weapon while maintaining a lighthearted yet determined tone. Actors work in concert to build tension as the nightmare unfolds on screen, keeping the focus on David Mattle and Briella Guiza as they sow chaos with anything from bug-covered snack chips to malicious roleplaying. Benjamin works hard to maintain the smooth operation of the game's occasionally strict mechanisms, and in the end, despite some muddled messaging, the game delivers on the promise of its title with a devastating climax that answers the question posed in the game's subtitle.

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