By Melissa Antoinette Garza
While looking through Amazon at the films that were new and available for streaming, I came across Emelie. I watched the trailer and was intrigued.
The plot is a simple one. The parents of three children are going for a night on the town. Their normal babysitter has plans so they hire one of her friends. When the sitter shows up, the parents assume all is right, only she’s not the girl who was supposed to come. She’s someone who has been stalking the family, and she has serious issues.
EMELIE definitely has some really strange elements to it. Some are explained in detail and others just leave the audience with an unsettling feeling of “what the hell was that about?”
At first, the kids like her. Emelie (Sarah Bolger) lets them color on the walls, play dress up and read comic books that their parents deemed too violent. Soon, things change. She starts a divide among the kids. Sally (Carly Adams) is her first target. She takes Sally’s hamster and feeds it to the eldest child, Jacob’s (Joshua Rush) snake.
Jacob tries to save the hamster but Emelie stops him and holds her favorite and the youngest child Christopher (Thomas Blair) in front of the aquarium to watch.
She takes it a step further and shows the children a sex tape she made of their parents. Now, we’re talking about kids aging from around 5 to 11 years old, so this is more than just pretty messed up. During the video, she also touches Christopher’s leg. Now, this aspect of her behavior really isn’t addressed again. I don’t know if they were going the molester route or what, but in any case she certainly is a sex offender by obtaining some sick joy by showing this tape to the kids.
If the horrible act of killing an innocent hamster isn’t enough to hate this bitch, the twisted disturbing glee she found in scarring the three kids makes certain the viewers see her as a monster that needs to die.
In a story she tells Christopher to put him to bed, we learn why she is in the house and her sad past. Even upon the revelation, there is no pity felt for Emelie. By this time, the film could have revealed she was raised by wolves and then kept in captivity by a madman and she would still be unredeemable.
When the normal babysitter stops by to check on the kids and sees that Emelie is there and not the friend she had recommended, Emelie acts aggressively and takes action to shut her up.
This was a very interesting dark movie that shined the light on some of the scars, but left many questions open. I definitely suggest it. The acting alone makes it worth the watch. Not only are the kids sympathetic but they really play off the sibling bond. Many times, children actors can be annoying and ruin an entire production with bad acting. Here however it’s the exact opposite. They enhance the film and are the unlikely heroes who have no choice but to figure out a plan.
At one point Jacob uses a walkie-talkie to reach his friend Howie (Dante Hoagland) for help. Their friendship is one of the few feel-good aspects of that movie. As a preteen, one will do anything for their friends. Even as they begin to understand their own mortality, they will risk their life when it comes to best friends. There’s something absolutely pure and honest about Howie risking himself and acting despite fear to save his friend.
I wish Joshua Rush and Dante Hoagland had more airtime together as the chemistry was great and their acting was topnotch. In certain moments, films like the GOONIES (1985) and SUPER 8 (2011) would pop into my head. Of course, EMELIE is much darker and not at all for children, but those few scenes were defintiely needed to lighten up the heavy stuff shown.
Lastly, Sarah Bolger was perfectly cast. I hated Emelie. I was rooting for the bitch to die from the start of the movie. Bolger played the part of someone who enjoyed torture and heinous acts all the while searching for a child that she had some sort of spiritual connection with. I hesitate to use the word spiritual but it isn’t demonic either. Emelie wanted a child that would enjoy the despicable deeds she performed and revel in the discomfort and sadness of others. Bolger conveyed Emelie’s dysfunction and evil nature with such believability. I wanted to reach into my screen and punch her in her face. Like the old tv spot for THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) says, keep reminding yourself “It’s only a movie. It’s only a movie.”
So for that alone, this film deserved much more recognition and an Academy Award nod to Bolger. Unfortunately, the Academy likes honoring horror films about as much as they like honoring African Americans. Hopefully, in the future both will change. If not, I hope to see Bolger shine in more films and maybe step outside of the genre to get the accolades she deserves.
Scared Stiff Rating: 8.5/10
