Emelie (2015) Reviews

• Throws Everything Away In Its Final Act To Finish As A Forgettable Thriller

  CinemaClown2016-07-05

  Despite packing in an interesting premise & opening on a promising note, Emelie throws everything away in its final minutes to finish as a forgettable horror thriller. The setting is smartly built up, the suspense is effectively sustained for the majority of its runtime but what it lacks & what brings the whole film down eventually is the absence of a proper closure. The story of Emelie follows the Thompson family that finds the couple going out to celebrate their wedding anniversary, leaving behind their three children in the care of a new babysitter. The kids are instantly enamoured by her as she allows them to do things their parents won't but as night progresses, they soon find out that their caretaker isn't what she claims to be. Directed by Michael Thelin in what is his directional debut, Emelie takes its time to set up its plot & is often regular with its delivery of brief, unnerving moments from start to finish. It plays on every parent's worst nightmare i.e. leaving one's child in the care of a stranger, and is gripping on more occasions than one. But it could've been so much more if Thelin had figured out a better third act. Its ominous ambiance is a definite plus as it keeps the tension alive, and the slow relaxed pacing is fitting too as it allows the plot & characters to breathe freely. Another highlight is Sarah Bolger who carries the entire film on her own and delivers a deranged performance. The kids are annoying as expected but a couple of them are nevertheless convincing in their interaction with the babysitter. On an overall scale, Emelie had all the ingredients to finish as a nail-biting chiller but it tries to get ahead of itself in the final act and pays the price, for that move didn't just work against it but also squandered everything that had transpired before. It really is a shame because there was potential in this material but its decision to cop-out in the end ruins its chances of being counted amongst the better examples of its genre(s).

• Shows initial promise, but does not deliver the goods

  Seth_Rogue_One2016-04-09

  The movie started out promising enough but once the (dodgy) motive was revealed half-way through, the logical loopholes in the plot and weaknesses overall of the script started to show and it just became rather... meh. And there was very little pay off in the end, it was supposed to be a thrilling ending but it just didn't work at all. I don't know what more to say really, it's not a whole lot you can say about it as it is such a simple movie and it's impossible to talk about the plot without spoiling it. But the acting was alright (Sarah Bolger will probably go on to do bigger and better things) and the cinematography was stellar, but yeah overall it just wasn't a great movie.

• It had potential but...

  shreeree2016-03-09

  I think it was bad writing because this had to be the easiest babysitter to get away from. First what parent in their right mind leave their child with not only a new babysitter recommended by someone but they don't even know what she looks like. The best thing is to have the person recommending the babysitter as back up plan to introduce you so you can get a feel of them first regardless of the recommendation. If not then Google her. So when she shows up they would have known it was not the person they were expecting. Then they had several opportunities they or at least the two oldest could have escaped. The oldest girl hugs Maggie, their real babysitter when she visits and slip her a note. I felt they could have tried to do more. Then when the oldest brother actually got out of the house instead of going to a neighbor he goes to this dweeb friend whose a kid too who guilt him about leaving his siblings behind, duh, then he should had told his friend he was stupid and useless and went and got a grown up. Also she cuts the power to a house she never been in and maneuver with a flashlight like she lived there. This girl isn't that much bigger than the kids, I saw a few times the older brother could have pushed down the stairs. The fact is why didn't she just take the younger boy that she wanted when she first got there and not bother actually playing babysitter. Instead of having her "Partner in crime" watch and hinder the parents. He could have been there picking up her and the boy she wanted. This would have been a better movie if she had said she was going to the store take the youngest, tell the oldest to watch his sister and never took the boy back. Let the movie been about something else. The last irritation is who gets up and walk from a car rolling over them twice. Meaning first it hit you and roll with the back wheels backing up then the front wheels? No one even if they don't die on the spot but a girl weighing ninety five to a buck five. Makes it to contrive to enjoy the potential it had because the acting was good overall. Watch it if it's .99 or free otherwise it could have been a Lifetime Movie.

• Doesn't Really Do Anything Wrong But Fails To Do Anything New

  HorrorOverEverything2016-03-09

  By reading the premise for this film I'm sure you know that this isn't going to be some edge of your seat sophisticated thriller, it is a straightforward (mostly predictable horror/thriller that entertains enough but fails to accomplish much). The flick started interesting enough, had me intrigued right off the bat, however from there it just kind of slows down and starts following the exact same path that many other similar movies have. As the babysitter's intentions become clear the movie got kind of bland, I just didn't really care about most of the stuff that was going on. The film managed to hold my interest enough to stop from turning the movie off but it failed to create any real tension/suspense. It wasn't all bad, I thought the cast did a really good job, especially the child actors who all gave very realistic performances and succeeded at not really being annoying or obnoxious at all. There were a few memorable scenes as well, one that was really unintentionally funny in my opinion. Overall this wasn't a bad movie, it did it's job of killing 1 hour & 20 minutes. It's just the whole thing has a very bland and familiar atmosphere that prevents it from being anything more than just another lower budget horror movie. 5/10

• An interesting enough concept that never goes anywhere

  jtindahouse2016-05-20

  'Emelie' is one of those films that is a lot more fun if you just turn your brain off and don't think about it too much. Unfortunately for me I don't like to do that. It you stop and think about the whole story for a second you'll quickly realise none of it makes a whole lot of sense. Without spoiling any character's motives, I'll just say that there isn't a lot of common sense or reasoning going on, most of which is lacking in order to stretch this movie out to an already short 80 minute run time. The writing in thrillers is rarely perfect, but there has to be a limit to the amount of absurdity and foolishness you can accept. It's not all bad though. Sarah Bolger in the lead role did a fantastic job. She had an eerie creepiness about her character, while always keeping some charisma in the mix. The children also did a very good job, giving performances that were above average. Often in these types of movies the kids become annoying very quickly and ruin the experience, but that was never the case here. There was some potential behind all this that I think has been squandered with some sloppy writing in parts. Director Michael Thelin in his first film did a fine job with what he had to work with and can keep his head up. Tweak the script here and there and you'd have yourself a very fine thriller.