Once you have seen Emelie you will never leave your children with a babysitter again! A film that hits home in these days of child abuse is extremely uncomfortable watching at times.
After their regular babysitter Maggie can’t make it, the Thompson family turn to their friend Anna/Emelie to supervise their children while the parents celebrate their anniversary.
At first Emelie seems like a dream come true to the kids, allowing them to eat extra cookies and play with things that are usually off-limits, but as her behaviour becomes increasingly strange, the kids soon find out that her intentions are dark and twisted, and she is not who she seems to be.
There are several moments in this film that made even this reviewer squirm. Emelie coaxes Jacob into the bathroom and asks him to fetch her a tampon. Innocently, Jacob does what she asks, and she inserts it in front of him, as they both get a glimpse of the blood oozing down the drain.
She feeds the children’s beloved hamster to their pet snake which may be considered a symbol for Anna’s tightly wound grasp on the children.
She forces all three children to watch their parents’ home made sex tape, clinging onto Christopher (the youngest child) as the older children sit there, horrified.
The key point of the film is a handwritten children’s story she reads to the youngest child. It explains her history and why she does the hideous things she does.
Emilie is potentially a winner but falls down in several places – it is painfully slow (particularly the opening sequence) and Sarah Bolger’s low, menacing volume makes her voice difficult to understand at times.
Also, there are errors in Emelie’s backstory which just don’t add up.
While this film has the potential to be a good, low budget thriller, it just does not completely get there – but it does make you think twice before inviting strangers into your house!
Reviewed by Barry Hill
Twitter: @kinesguy
Rating out of 10: 7
Emilie will be released on DVD on 28 July 2016.