Emelie
Directed by Michael Thelin, Released 2016

Trigger warnings for: death of an animal on screen, child endangerment, drugs, child abuse, implied death of a child, a sex tape, car accidents, murder, sexual situations, blood, suggestive dialogue, disturbing imagery, trauma and PTSD

This is a wild take on home-invasion and babysitter slasher style fare. A fair warning to those sensitive to children being hurt or children being placed in/exposed to some sort of suggestively sexual situations, this should be avoided! There’s a lot of abuse here, both psychological and physical (less sexual, though the vibe is there). If you can make it through those challenging bits, it is cleverly written and does have a few twisty turns as the story unfolds, so that was enjoyable.

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are in desperate need of some romance and aim to have a nice night out on the town away from their three children. When their beloved babysitter is unable to make it, they opt to hire her good pal, Anna. Anna seems to be the perfect replacement, and off they go to rekindle their ailing relationship. The kids go ham, having been given lots more freedom and room for chaos than they're used to. Anna is the best babysitter in the world! That is until she suddenly is very much the worst. I'm not normally a fan of movies that place children in any sort of peril, as I'm much too sensitive and tend to cry. Sorry, y'all, as much dark stuff as I consume? I'm actually comprised of cotton candy, glitter, and rainbows inside. It's very easy to rattle my feels if you leverage the innocence of childhood haha!

Honestly, though this is one disturbing but utterly engaging movie!  And Emelie/Anna sure is a delightfully heinous and chilling central character. The kids are so good at portraying their characters and I loved them so much! These poor sweet babes!!!

Anyway, my expert advice is to give this one a whirl and also that you should 10/10 absolutely not hire Emelie/Anna to watch over your kids, and perhaps do some reference checks and background screenings before peacing out on your smols instead.

Review by Ellen Avigliano
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