Review: Emelie (2015), a Rare Example of Great Child Acting

Though horror and thriller movies about children usually fall flat, Emelie excels by allowing the child actors to react to situations as they would in real life.

I can say without a shred of remorse that I do not like child actors. As an avid horror fan, it’s a constant struggle to find great horror films that don’t center on children. After all, children are perceived as weak, innocent, and vulnerable. This means that it is easy to design horror stories in which children are endangered by some threat or evil entity. The Babadook (2014) and The Noonday Witch (2016) are two prime examples of “children’s horror” done right; each story focuses on a mother’s attempts to keep her child safe. However, the vast majority of child-centric horror falls flat. Fortunately, Michael Thelin’s Emelie (2015) strays far from the pack by allowing for transgression and providing a superb cast of child actors.

Emelie (2015) Plot Summary

In the film, we see a teenage girl named Anna kidnapped by a man and a woman. The woman, Emelie (Sarah Bolger), pretends to be Anna, who had been on her way to babysit for a nearby family. The parents, Dan and Joyce, had never met Anna before, so Emelie is able to slip into their home and pretend to be Anna without any problems. The couple are on their way out to celebrate their 13th-wedding anniversary, so they’re just happy to have someone take care of their three children — 4-year-old Christopher (Thomas Bair), 9-year-old Sally (Carly Adams), and 11-year-old Jacob (Joshua Rush).

As soon as the parents leave, “Anna” starts acting strangely. She disconnects the internet and takes all of the laces from the children’s shoes. Later, the fake Anna discovers that she’s on her period, so she asks Jacob to unwrap a tampon for her. She then inserts the tampon while Jacob watches before flushing the blood down the toilet.  

Soon after, Jacob rummages through her bag and finds an ID proving that she is not the real Anna. When he returns to the living room, he is horrified to discover that Emelie is showing Christopher and Sally a sex tape of their parents. He quickly turns it off. Emelie smugly emasculates him before turning her attention to something else. 

As Jacob starts to discover that Emelie is a danger to his family, he tries to reach out for help. Meanwhile, a friend of the real Anna suspects that something is amiss. However, Emelie has other plans. As the night wears on, Jacob must fight to keep his family safe and get rid of their psychopathic babysitter.

My Analysis

Once the audience discovers Emelie’s true intentions, the film returns to pretty familiar territory. It becomes a race against time until the parents return home, pitting the cunning Emelie against three young kids, all of them ill-equipped to deal with an existential threat. As a result, Emelie is a very effective horror-thriller that leaves you on the edge of your seat.

Though the final act doesn’t take any big risks or defy expectations, there are two distinct characteristics that put Emelie a step above the rest. First and foremost, all three children give great performances. In most horror films, child actors immediately draw me out of the story. More often than not, they simply don’t have the acting chops to get into their characters. Thankfully, Michael Thelin clearly knows how to direct kids effectively. Additionally, scriptwriters Richard Raymond and Harry Herbeck don’t try to overburden any of the child actors with too much dialogue.

Instead, Thelin allows the kids to react to their environment with a sense of honesty. They weren’t so much “performing” as they were reacting to Emelie’s odd behavior. As a result, you don’t feel drawn out of the story due to poorly delivered lines or overacting on the part of the children. Of course, all of the credit can’t just go to the director and scriptwriters. The children all do an excellent job in their respective roles. While Thomas Bair is still too young to evaluate as an actor, I predict great careers for both Joshua Rush and Carly Adams.

The film also excels due to its willingness to venture into territory that most “mainstream” horror films would avoid at all costs. More specifically, we (as viewers) feel horrified at Emelie’s willingness to show her personal bodily functions to Jacob. It becomes even more disturbing when she breaks out the sex tapes. While these are not her only signs of malevolence, they certainly put a pit in your stomach more than the others. 

This is part of the reason why the first half of the film feels so well-executed. Emelie is brazenly lying to this family and endangering the children, with absolutely no consequences or authority figures to call her out. It’s pure horror that comes in a very different package. The monster has free reign to do whatever she pleases — and it’s absolutely terrifying.

Conclusion

The “psychotic babysitter” subgenre is nothing new, but Emelie (2015) certainly gives it a fresh coat of paint. In fact, I would say it is the best in an otherwise middling section of the horror film genre. I don’t throw around the word “best” lightly, so, if you have the chance, Emelie is certainly worth a watch.

That said, the film may turn off some viewers, as it goes out of its way to be transgressive. For me, this was one of the elements that allow the film to shine. Emelie’s character is so transgressive that, when juxtaposed with the believably naive children, it creates an incredible sense of tension that persists until the final act. That said, Emelie is not without its imperfections. Like most horror films, it devolves into horror cliches before it’s all said and done. Nonetheless, I still found it to be a highly entertaining and intense horror film — from start to finish.

Emelie (2015) Movie Rating: ★★★★ out of 5

If you’d like to watch Emelie (2015), it is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via Amazon Prime. For more film reviews like this one, be sure to check out the Philosophy in Film homepage!