Emelie (2016)

Load of rubbish!!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

When i saw the premise of this movie I thought to myself , "here we go, another crazy babysitter movie." And actually didn't bother to watch it. It wasn't until a friend mentioned to me how crazy it was that i decided to check it out. I love how uncomfortable i felt the entire film. I could literally feel my hands clinching during many parts , as i didn't know what to expect . There weren't any cheap jump scares either which was also a plus , sheer intensity through dialogue , direction , and atnohsphere, the way it's supposed to be done ! With a kick ass climax ! My only critique is that i wish the baby sitter's motive would've been explained more somehow , as it's kinda confusing exactly WHY she was doing this . But other than that , GREAT flick to watch late at night with some popcorn and blankets

Two parents go out for an evening leaving their three children in the hands of a babysitter. As the parents leave it becomes immediately apparent that the sitter is not who she appears to be and subjects the children to a number of twisted and uncomfortable activities. The first half of Emelie is a relatively slow build and does a good job of revealing the titular characters disturbing and psychotic motives and this is supported by some good performances by the three child actors. It does come close in the closing act of becoming like a dark & violent Home Alone but the filmmakers did a good job not letting it get too silly or over the top. Emelie is not a particularly memorable or original story but its fairly tense in places, well made and succeeds on the performances by its young cast of acting talent. Unfortunately it tells a simple and unoriginal story and is immediately forgettable after the credits roll. 5/10

EMELIE is a generally poor addition to the psycho-thriller genre of film-making that manages to waste a great deal of early promise in a story that gradually falls apart the more it goes on. It sees Sarah Bolger playing a mysterious babysitter from hell who puts her charges through a series of increasingly unpleasant and awkward experiences. The first half successfully builds suspense but the second half becomes very arty and drawn-out, feeling very much like the writer had no idea how to create an ending with impact. I watched this mainly for Bolger, who I loved in THE TUDORS and have followed ever since. She doesn't disappoint, and neither do the child actors here, so it's a pity the writing lets them down.

Who is this babysitter? They really give little to no build up or insight as to her motives and personality. Although you can tell very quickly she's going to be a bad egg before she even gets into the house, they don't give you any back story as to why and even throughout the movie, you never really find out anything other than she must have lost a child (boy) of her own (How? Who knows) but that's about it. Pretty shallow.The opening abduction scene never really ties into the rest of the story either. Who's the blonde girl who was abducted. Who's the guy working with her that eventually crashes his car into the car the parents were riding in at the end? He killed himself doing it, so was he purposely buying her the time she needed, or was it accidental? The body of the early abductee was in it, but was she dead already, or was it from he crash? Why don't we see his face? Why was she abducted. What does it have to do with anything?Also, the are many instances for the kids to escape her, or to let others know she was a psycho that makes everything harder to swallow. Anyone who has/knows kids know none of this would play out like it did. Finally, the ending with how the kids escape her and are rescued came abruptly without a whole lot of drama, action, or thrill that movies like this typically end with. It was like they allowed the Hallmark Channel or ABC Family to produce the last 10 minutes.I mean; I've seen Sesame Street characters go down harder than this wacko babysitter and we all knew she wasn't going to be there in the driveway when the they got back to the house. I get the director was going for almost a Halloween type ending so the character could return for a sequel(s), which is why she was "gently" run over, but it all failed miserably. I wasn't expecting much from this movie to begin with, but even for what it was, it wasn't very good at all.