The Children

"You brought them into this world. Now ... They will take you out."

Director: Tom Shankland Year: 2008 Runtime: 84 min IMDb: ⭐ 6.0
Movie Poster

Synopsis

A relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents

Elaine and Jonah travel with their two children, Miranda and Paulie, and Casey (Elaine's teenage daughter from a previous relationship), to spend Christmas with Elaine's older sister, Chloe, her husband Robbie, and their two children, Nicky and Leah. On arrival, Paulie vomits, which his mother believes is from motion sickness. After opening presents, Nicky and Leah begin to show symptoms of an illness as Leah coughs up black bile with strange forms of bacteria. By the next day, all of the children have become pale and ill, and exhibit signs of disturbing behaviour. During lunch, Miranda unexpectedly attacks Chloe and the children begin to cry. Robbie takes the other children sledding in the garden. But Nicky places a garden rake in the path of Robbie's sled, which slices open his head on impact. The children flee into the forest. Casey plans to leave and meet up with her friends for a party, but becomes frightened when she finds Leah in the forest, laughing and cutting into something. Back in the house, Jonah tries to call emergency services, but they are held up by the snowy weather. Paulie attacks Jonah and also causes Elaine to break her leg. Casey and Elaine seek refuge in the greenhouse. Chloe finds Robbie's body mutilated by the children, and is attacked by Leah. Casey saves her, and Elaine in turn saves Casey from Paulie, accidentally killing him. Chloe accuses Casey and Elaine of going insane, and angrily runs off into the woods with Jonah to find the other children. Jonah and Chloe are separated in the woods: Chloe finds Nicky and Leah, but they attack and kill her. At the house, Casey sees Miranda beating Jinxie's corpse and throttles her, Jonah arrives and Miranda tells him Casey attacked her. Jonah locks Casey in a bedroom as he and Miranda flee by car. Leah and Nicky break into the house and approach Elaine menacingly, but she cannot bring herself to hurt them. The kids attempt to cut into her stomach, but Casey escapes from the bedroom and kills Nicky. Casey and Elaine drive off, but find Jonah dead in his car, having crashed into a tree. When Casey investigates, Miranda tries to attack her, but Elaine runs her down with her car, killing her. As Casey begins to vomit, Elaine notices a crowd of staring children coming close to them including Leah, prompting Casey and Elaine to drive away. As Elaine drives, an unresponsive Casey stares vacantly, suggesting that she had been infected just like the children.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

🎄 Holiday Cheer Breakdown

Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

a dog dies
spoiler Ignore this
a cat dies
spoiler Probably, but it isn't shown.
a pet dies
spoiler Off Screen
an animal dies
Yes
there's a dead animal
spoiler There are no dead animals shown.
animals are abused
spoiler Off Screen death
a child is abandoned by a parent or guardian
Yes
there's child abuse
Yes
there's domestic violence
Yes
there's abusive parents
spoiler not abusive in the traditional sense, though there is one scene where one of the adults hits a child(not brutaly though), but it is kind of a one off
someone gets gaslighted
Yes
someone is stalked
Yes
alcohol abuse
spoiler an underage character drinks
someone uses drugs
spoiler Two characters smoke weed at one point
there's pedophilia
spoiler Teenager is hit on by her adult uncle
someone is restrained
Yes
there's eye mutilation
spoiler Stabbed in the eye
there's excessive gore
Yes
there's torture
Yes
there's body horror
spoiler I think some would consider a baby doll coming out of someone's gaping stomach to be body horror so to be safe I'm putting yes
heads get squashed
spoiler Someone gets scalped
there's finger/toe mutilation
spoiler Casey does claw at the door with her fingernails, but they only look raw, not mutilated
there's shaving/cutting
Yes
someone is crushed to death
Yes
someone is buried alive
spoiler Buried alive in snow, but face is visible and bloody
there's amputation
spoiler amputation of an earlobe, offscreen
someone struggles to breathe
spoiler end scene
there's Achilles Tendon injury
Yes
someone asphyxiates
Yes
someone breaks a bone
spoiler Compound fracture
someone is stabbed
Yes
someone has a seizure
Yes
Someone becomes unconscious
Yes
a minor is sexualized
spoiler It is implied Casey is under age, and her uncle behaves in a way which may be considered inappropriately flirty.
a kid dies
spoiler There is talk of the death of 2 girls
a non-human character dies
spoiler Jinx isn't in a lot of scenes but I consider pets to be characters so if you are like me this is yes
a major character dies
Yes
someone dies
Yes
A child's dear toy is destroyed
spoiler A little girl has a doll that she is shown to be very attached to that she later damages while under the influence of an infection. Neither she nor any other character shows distress specifically about the doll.
a parent dies
Yes
a family member dies
Yes
there are jump scares
Yes
someone is possessed
Yes
there are shower scenes
Yes
there's natural bodies of water
Yes
someone vomits
spoiler Right away in the movie. Turned it off almost immediately.
There's audio gore
spoiler HEAVY audio gore
there's spitting
Yes
Someone attempts suicide
spoiler One of the parents consider it. They hold a knife to their wrist but don't hurt themselves.
someone self harms
spoiler It is implied that one of the characters may harm themselves, but does not.
someone says "I'll kill myself"
spoiler Someone does have suicidal thoughts
someone has an anxiety attack
spoiler It is implied the child has a panic attack/tantrum just before they become 'unwell'
there's a claustrophobic scene
Yes
someone has a meltdown
Yes
shaky cam is used
Yes
there's flashing lights or images
Yes
a baby cries
spoiler Not a baby but young children scream and cry throughout the movie
there's screaming
Yes
there is obscene language/gestures
Yes
someone is watched without knowing
Yes
someone has an abortion
spoiler Discussion of a past failed abortion. No abortion happens in the movie
there's ableist language or behavior
Yes
there are incestuous relationships
spoiler Not necessarily. Casey's uncle is very flirty towards her.
there is sexual content
Yes
someone is sexually objectified
spoiler Implied the uncle is a. Creep
the ending is sad
Yes
a car crashes
spoiler We just see the aftermath.
a person is hit by a car
Yes
a car honks or tires screech
Yes
there's blood/gore
Yes

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