There's Something Wrong with the Children

Horror movies in general lack a lot these days. Whether it be a sense of originality, good acting, or genuine spook factor... but it's been a while since I've encountered a movie that lacks this...

There is almost no semblance of a story here. Sure, they gave us a vague background on the characters and it gives us spooky snippets here and there, but... what exactly was the story? What was the plot here? As previously stated, you guessed it... there wasn't one. It kind of blows my mind that this could fully go into production and distributed with such a lack of storytelling. It felt super lazy like someone came up with a proof of concept but had no will or desire to elaborate on anything.

Now, with that being said, it was still a generally entertaining movie. I was intrigued throughout, it just didn't bring me anywhere. I think that said partial success mostly has to do with the acting. I thought the ensemble of the four adults did an excellent job and provided down to earth and relatable performances in a way that I feel like I haven't seen much of. They have a group argument moment at one point and it was *chefs kiss*.

At the end of the day they just wasted some solid potential with lazy storytelling, landing the movie at solidly mediocre. Also a side note, idk what they were doing with the score/sound design... but it wasn't successful... 4.5 rounding up to a 5. As far as the recommendation goes, I'm indifferent.

Movie is a standard low budget horror film. Concept is pretty straight forward, kids come back from the woods yada yada yada.

I don't really know what to say about it. I'll forget this movie in an hour or two. I mean I did finish it and it was somewhat interesting overall. The acting and dynamics between the adult characters is well done. The kids also performed well given the material.

I guess I would say if you're looking to online shop or you want to zonk out on the couch and watch something that's not too complicated but somewhat entertaining than this would fit the bill. Not much more to say. 5/10.

Okay but why ? When the movie started I was like okay this looks kind of interesting but as the film progressed and then ended it left me with so many questions that I couldn't even enjoyed what I saw... The atmosphere was missing here and many things seemed not to connect with each other... I would have liked the film to end somewhere interesting and not just end without any explanation this shows the lack of inspiration and the dryness of their work. It could have been interesting if they had worked on it more or if they had a bigger budget.

I would love it if there was a sequel to explain what happened.

The premise of the story is good - not 100% original, but done in its own style with some interesting plot lines.

Viewers are asked to ponder whether there's really something sinister going on, or if the main adult character is suffering with mental health issues. This allows for a few nice twists and turns.

The acting is hit and miss, and it isn't helped by some cringeworthy dialogue. There are some jarring moments that will give some viewers secondhand embarrassment. But if you can overlook these, there's an interesting film that is quite well paced.

The music is different. It's either silent or very loud. I rather enjoyed it but understand why some find it distracting.

I wouldn't call this a bad movie overall. The acting, direction and cinematography are all fine, but I just found the film painful to watch.

The biggest issue for me is that the protagonists just make the wrong - and often stupid - choices at every possible opportunity. Even when the plot suggests a character has done the right thing, common sense dictates that they could have made a smarter choice.

This is especially obvious in the later half if the movie, when even characters who seem to have figured out what is happening do things that make no sense to anyone who isn't following a script.

I just found the entire movie to be a frustrating, shout-at-the-screen experience that ruined the potential enjoyment of some of the ideas the film had to play with.

Ultimately, I want a horror film to make me feel tense and anxious, not angry and frustrated.