Back in March director Roxanne Benjamin’s horror film There’s Something Wrong with the Children was released on multiple streaming platforms. While scrolling through Prime Video last night the film caught my attention. So I decided to check it out.
In the film, When Margaret (Wainwright) and Ben (Gilford) take a weekend trip with longtime friends Ellie (Crew) and Thomas (Santos) and their two young children (Guiza and Mattle), Ben begins to suspect something supernatural is occurring when the kids behave strangely after disappearing into the woods overnight.
The film started out good, with an interesting story. However, that wouldn’t last. In a time when we desperately need new stories and strong characters, we get dumb characters who constantly make dumb decisions.
Let’s start with the two main characters, Margaret (Alisha Wainwright) and Ben (Zach Gilford). Gillard gives a nice performance and a character the viewers can find empathy with. He’s struggling with mental health issues (aren’t we all), so when he sees something he can’t process and tries to explain to the group that something is terribly wrong, they, of course, blame his mental health, calling him crazy. Seriously? It’s 2023, and we’re still doing this? Margret is understanding and supportive for all of two minutes before she turns her back on him. This makes her character unlikable. Plus, Margret is dumb. like really dumb. Instead of fleeing danger, she just stands there looking stupid. Do we really need a final girl like that? No.
Margret is a prime example of the type of female character we don’t want, the kind we’ve seen for far too long, like those who trip over nothing while running, characters there only to further the bloodshed. And I’m surprised that a female director allowed it, and frankly, it’s a bit insulting.
The two stars that did make an impact are Briella Guiza and David Mattle, the kids. Their performances were creepy as hell. They did an absolutely amazing job; unfortunately, I can’t say the same about most of the cast.
I will say this: the cinematography is great. It’s a good-looking film with a rich appearance and interesting shots. So, at least there’s that.
It’s sad. This movie had the potential to be good, but if it wasn’t, thanks to of all the overused tropes and the shitty/shallow characters. Everything is so obvious and predictable from beginning to end. The writing was simply lazy. There was a good idea behind it, but unfortunately, it was wasted, just like the two hours of my life I’ll never get back. I expected better from Roxanne Benjamin. She’s had good films before, like Southbound. And the writing team of T.J. Cimfel and David White (Intruders, V/H/S Viral) should know better.
I think that it’s obvious by now that ‘There’s Something Wrong With the Children’ wouldn’t be something I’d recommend. It’s just disappointing. If you still want to watch it, you can find the trailer below, but I’d advise skipping it. It is filled with spoilers. Why do studios continue to do that? Come on now, Blumhouse and MGM.
