Emelie is a slow-burn thriller that is
extremely efficient in building tension and suspense, keeping me captivated
until the letdown of an uninspired final act. Without the strength of Sarah
Bolger’s convincing performance as the title character, a psychotic young woman
disguised as an average middle-class family’s new babysitter, Emelie would have been far easier to
dismiss before the screenplay’s shortcomings failed the film. Instead, I was so
impressed with the set-up of the narrative, it made the lackluster final reveal
that much more disappointing. It builds wonderfully for more than half the
run-time before reaching a monotone plateau act, ending with a whimper when it
should have been a bang.
Providing a new
twist on the home invasion sub-genre, Emelie
also flips the victim/monster roles of a typical horror film. When the Thompson
family hires a new babysitter so parents Dan (Chris Beetem) and Joyce (Susan
Pourfar) can celebrate their anniversary, they think they are getting a young
girl named Anna, instead replaced by Emelie (Bolger), whose intentions for the
deception are not immediately clear. Their trio of children at different ages
inspires a variety of reactions to their new babysitter, especially as she
begins breaking the rules set by their parents. Jacob (Joshua Rush) is the
oldest and nearing puberty, which makes him susceptible to the new babysitter’s
tactic of using her sexuality as a distraction. Meanwhile the youngest,
Christopher (Thomas Blair) is given a majority of the attention, while the
middle child and only girl (Carly Adams) is treated with malice and disdain by
the intruder in disguise.
At first the
unconventional style of babysitting is only mildly off-putting, with excessive
junk food and encouraged art sessions on the living room walls. Before long,
however, it takes a much darker twist into dangerous and damaging behavior,
both physically and psychologically. Emelie forces the children to watch a
video of their father having an affair (a plot point which goes completely
unaddressed, despite obvious tensions amongst the parents during their
anniversary dinner), and even places a gun in the hands of one of the children
as some kind crazy experiment. Before long Jacob realizes that something is off
with the situation, becoming the only hope for protecting the younger siblings
that have often annoyed him.
Too many plot
holes, gaps in logic, and a climactic sequence which sputters like a car out of
gas keeps Emelie from being either
memorable or recommendable. All of the effective work from the mysterious
set-up is wasted with illogical reveals and resolution, which is even more
disappointing because of the potential. There were several times during the
film that I was sure I had figured out the final twist, but the actual
revelation about Emelie’s motivations was far less interesting than anything I
had guessed. Even worse, there are no connections to be made in order to guess
correctly, because it all ends up being fairly random despite opportunities for
a more logical resolution.
The Blu-ray
release comes with a making-of featurette, as well as a trailer for the film.
All in all, this is an unfortunately forgettable affair, despite convincing
performances from the child actors and a star turn from Bolger, who we will
undoubtedly see more of in the years to come. Most of the filmmaking is
passable, though none is enhanced or improved by the additional clarity brought
with a high definition presentation.
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of Filmmaking:
5/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 3.5/10
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