There's Something Wrong with the Children

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.

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.

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.

The film can also be characterized as psycho horror. Many criticisms are due to the bad acting of the children, but it was not a problem for me in general. The only problem is the very end of the film, which was done "hastily" as if the director had no idea how the film should end, so they did the first thing that came to their mind.

It can be assumed that the film did not have a very big budget, but it deviates from jumpscares and boring horror elements that have already been "used up" through years and years of making horror films. The movie is excellent if you like mysticism, adventure, drama, horror, psychothriller, action. The film has a little bit of every genre. I rated it 7/10 only because of the ending, which in my opinion is the most important for horror films, because I think that in horror films the viewer should not be left to come up with the final event, but that it should be completely clear and determined. I advise everyone who makes horror films to analyze Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, because it is the core of horror as it should have been.

If this movie was free or on Lifetime, I'd probably give a better rating. The acting is so bad that it's hard to disregard. There are creepy aspects of the film and it does a decent job of building suspense I guess, but overall falls short in what you'd expect based on the trailer.

It takes a little over 35-45 minutes for horror fans to see anything substantial which makes it difficult to stay interested. I completely appreciate and enjoy a slow burn but with the horrible acting and lack of major thrills as mentioned, it almost doesn't seem worth it to stick though the movie.

This is definitely one to pass.