Year of Release: 2017
Director: McG
Starring: Samara Weaving, Judah Lewis, Robbie Amell, Hana Mae Lee, Bella Thorne, Emily Alyn Lind, Andrew Bachelor, Doug Haley, Leslie Bibb, Ken Marino, Samuel Gilbert, Zachary Alexander Rice, Doc Duhame, Jean Claude Leuyer, Miles J. Harvey, Chris Wylde, Carl McDowell, Jonathan Bray
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Netflix
Synopsis and Review
Director McG who has an extensive career in directing music videos, made a name for himself initially with the "Charlie's Angels" diptych, which came out in 2000 and 2003. Following the critically derided "This Means War" from 2012 and the little seen "3 Days to Kill" from 2014, he started venturing heavily into directing tv shows. "The Babysitter" which was originally shot in 2015, and was intended for theatrical release before being purchased by Netflix, was released in 2017, and went on to be a significant success on the platform. The narrative focuses on the life of Cole, a 12 year old boy whose cool parents still leave him with a babysitter, whenever they have a social event or a date night. Bee, the babysitter, is good friends with Cole, protects him from his bullies from school, and they both have a common language which allows Cole to feel at ease with her, even if her beauty is starting to both excite and distract him. One evening when Cole's parents go to the city for date night, Bee and him play a series of friendly games, one of which includes Cole trying out some liquor which Bee offers him. He secretly pours it out. During that night, Cole who previously pretended to be sleeping, goes to check on what Bee is doing. Turns out she has a group of her friends in the house, and they're playing their own games, which includes spin the bottle. However and much to Cole's horror, Bee stabs and kills one of the people in the group, and during the exchanges in conversation, Cole realizes they're all members of a demonic cult. He also realizes they need him and his blood to perform a ritual. Cole panics and goes back to his room, but they soon realize he was not sleeping and has witnessed what's taking place, and what follows is a game of cat and mouse with lethal endings.
One of the smarter things of this offering from McG, is the fact that Brian Duffield's script, deftly touches upon the typical clichés from the high school/babysitter genre, and flips them on its head by making a quasi slasher film, one that is also populated with characters that are somewhat self aware. The characters sadly don't have much to them in terms of motivation or even arc and are in fact as limited as one can expect, but the film also doesn't take itself, or the characters for that matter, very seriously. This type of indirect wink to the viewer from both the characters and situations themselves, pushes the film into a comedic and ironic stance (for instance, why is the attractive young man all of a sudden shirtless), without ever losing the tight grip on the blood and mayhem. It's a film that does fly by, one that is at times quite silly, but where the tone does work appropriately with the surreality of the situation itself. The cast is game for what is taking place, particularly Samara Weaving who is able to both represent the sunnier disposition of her character, and also her darker and more lethal side. The production team is solid, including Shane Hurlbut's cinematography, Douglas Pipes' score, and Hannah Jacobs' costume design. It is a bit of fluff, but it's watchable, and well executed.
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