A Quick Note on the Film ‘Emelie’

Tonight, just to pass the time, I saw a movie called Emelie’ I don’t remember what the description said, but it was enough for me to hit play. Don’t know what the deal was, but I’m glad I did it. 

Trigger warning:
Much like the ‘dirty’ feeling Ghostland invoked in me, there’s bits and pieces of that same ‘hey, don’t mess with kids that way!’ ingrained in this movie.

The film Emilie is eerie, creepy, dirty, and tense. It’s best described as a mix of Home Alone and Skinamarink. I don’t want to go as far as to say I loved the movie, nor does it make the top 10 lists of any of my films, but it was certainly a fantastic film. Billed as a horror, Emelie is more of a thriller, or a psychological thriller. It’s scary, but void of typical horror cliches like jump scares or familial trauma or supernatural elements or even gore. It’s not exactly a mystery, as the antagonist’s motivations are explained relatively early on.

The reason Emelie doesn’t make any top lists of mine is because it’s not all that complex. I thought that the film could have harbored a bit more depth in its character motivations or even its twists. It didn’t need any of that, however. The story is relatively straightforward, and the crux is all about how the kids discover and then free themselves of their evil babysitter. We didn’t particularly need anything extraordinary, but it certainly would have elevated the film. After all, the film had a pretty short runtime- it could have fit a bit more.

That said, I find no reason to dislike this film. The soundtrack is captivating, the acting (even from the kids) is convincing, and the direction didn’t dance around unnecessarily. The story is its greatest strength, and is enough to warrant a watch, in my opinion.

As I typically do, I looked into the director and actors and cinematographer. I was surprised to see that the wikipedia page was void of blue links. Director Michael Thelin doesn’t have a page at all. His IMDb lists a bunch of random crap. That’s surprising to me, because since Emelie‘s 2016 release date, he hasn’t made much of anything. I did note that his LinkedIn features his pro bone work with “Children’s Memorial Hospital”. So hopefully he can

All in all, I rate this film

GOOD

I watched Emelie on Tubi.

Wondering how my rating system works? Let me explain!