By Geno McGahee
A woman once accused of killing two of her children has two children now missing and is implicated, but she maintains her innocence. Nancy (Jill Clayburgh) is taking a shower when a man walks up to the children, stabs them with a needle and drags them into his station wagon. When she gets out of the shower, she can’t find them anywhere and immediately begins searching the lake frantically. With her first two children drowning, she automatically reverts back and assumes the same has happened here. She is flipping out when her husband, Clay (Max Gail) comes home. He screams “Where are the children?!!!”
The children are kidnapped by a man that calls himself “Uncle Courtney” and is played by Frederic Forrest. You aren’t sure of his motives initially. He may be protecting them from a killer mother or may be planning on hurting them…the truth is soon revealed, and it’s not pretty.
When Nancy goes through hypnotic regression, she discovers that her husband was a pedophile and may have killed the two children to avoid being locked up. He husband would die before anything could happen to him, or so she believes.
Uncle Courtney is such a great villain and sleaze that you want to jump through the TV and beat the hell out of him. Frederic Forrest did such an unbelievable job as the creepy uncle that he should have gotten some award for the performance. If you didn’t, Frederic, let me know and I will create an award show and award you with one. Awesome performance!
The tension in this movie is unreal. It is a race against time and the kids are so traumatized that you are on the edge of your seat with hope and anger. At one point, you think that Courtney is going to take a fall, but he survives and we are back to square one. There is so many times that you want to yell at the characters and say “Go in the closet!!!! The kids are in there,” only to watch the visitors leave Courtney’s house and the trauma resumes.
WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN is a great film. The pacing is perfect, Frederic Forrest’s performance is unbelievable and you are truly on the edge of your seat with this mystery-drama. The two children were so believable and if you are a parent, you are going to find yourself even angrier. This film really knows how to hit home and strike nerves. It is fantastic.
Rating: 9/10.