Movie Review: THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CHILDREN

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: January 17th, 2023 / 02:42 AM

THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG Poster | @2023 Paramount Home Entertainment

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Alisha Wainwright, Amanda Crew, Carlos Santos, Zach Gilford, Briela Guiza, David Mattle, Ramona Tyler
Writers: T.J. Cimfel & Dave White
Director: Roxanne Benjamin
Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
Release Date: January 17, 2023 (digital/on demand); March 17, 2023 (MGM+)

THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CHILDREN announces its tone and intentions with, of all things, the type font of its opening credits. The Day-Glo green words look just like the font of ‘70s horror paperbacks. Director Roxanne Benjamin and writers T.J. Cimfel & Dave White proceed to deliver the goods.

Given the recent box office success of M3GAN, it seems like Paramount may have missed out on some cash by not releasing THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CHILDREN theatrically. The new film may not have M3GAN’s consistent dark humor, but it pairs strong human drama with real horror, to say nothing of some truly creepy kids.

Childless couple Margaret (Alisha Wainwright) and Ben (Zach Gilford) are on vacation with friends Ellie (Amanda Crew) and Thomas (Carlos Santos), plus Ellie and Thomas’s youngsters, Lucy (Briela Guiza) and Spencer (David Mattle). The families have separate cabins on either side of a picnic area, surrounded by woods.

The group goes on a hike and discovers a mysterious, ruined building, with an enormous hole in the middle. Lucy gets a nosebleed and Spencer almost steps off the edge into the hole before Ben notices and grabs him. Ellie and Thomas are both enormously grateful to their friend for saving their son.

Later in the day, Spencer refers to the hole as “the place that shines,” and wants to return. The adults agree that would be a bad idea. Margaret and Ben suggest having the two children sleep over at their cabin so that Ellie and Thomas can get some romantic time together.

In the morning, Margaret and Ben wake up to find that Lucy and Spencer are missing. Horrified, Ben tells Margaret to wait at the cabin in case the children return, then goes off to search for them. Remembering Spencer’s obsession with the ruins, Ben tracks the children there. He finds them, but cannot get close enough to prevent them from jumping into the hole. He sees their broken bodies at the bottom.

Ben returns to tell Margaret what happened – but Lucy and Spencer are back at Ellie and Thomas’s cabin, as though nothing is wrong. Except when only Ben is looking. Then Lucy and Spencer get some very unchildlike expressions on their faces, and are acting in secretive, menacing ways.

Ben is certain that the children are dead and that something has replaced them, but Margaret doesn’t believe him. It doesn’t help that everybody is aware that Ben is on medication for a mental health crisis.

But we know that Ben is right. THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CHILDREN plays like a smarter, more energetic version of movie adaptations of those ‘70s paperbacks referenced in the title. The dialogue is snappy, and both the bonds and submerged resentments between the adults ring true.

This is also a movie where everyone’s behavior makes sense. We understand why Ben is sure of what he’s seen, and why nobody else is prepared to listen.

The cast is all very good. Guiza is the film’s secret weapon, conveying absolute childlike innocence at one moment and beyond-her-years malice the next. She makes us feel that Lucy has indeed become monstrous by simply altering her facial expression.

Director Benjamin stages some good jump scares. She and the writers also keep things fun and jovial enough that we accept these people like each other enough to spend their down time together, while managing to ramp up the tension. There’s also a subtext that becomes clearer toward the end, which fits the larger action.

THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CHILDREN is an unpretentious variation on a horror theme, done right.

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