Horror movies about "creepy kids" are a dime a dozen, but every so often, one actually sticks in your brain and refuses to leave. Released in early 2023 as part of the Blumhouse Television and MGM+ partnership, There Is Something Wrong with the Children is one of those movies. It doesn't rely on a masked slasher or a complex ghost story. Instead, it plays on a primal, terrifying fear that every parent—or anyone who has ever babysat—has felt at some point: the realization that the child in front of you isn't actually "yours" anymore.
People often dismiss it as just another direct-to-streaming flick. They're wrong.
Director Roxanne Benjamin, who previously worked on V/H/S and Southbound, leans hard into the psychological breakdown of the adults rather than just the supernatural gimmicks of the kids. It’s a messy, sweaty, paranoid film. Honestly, the most disturbing parts aren't even the supernatural bits; it's the way the movie captures how quickly friendship dissolves when things go south.
What actually happens in There Is Something Wrong with the Children?
The setup is deceptively simple. Two couples—Margaret and Ben, and Ellie and Thomas—head to a remote cabin for a weekend getaway. Ellie and Thomas have two kids, Spencer and Lucy. Margaret and Ben do not. This dynamic is the fuse that eventually blows the whole thing up. Ben, played by Zach Gilford (who was incredible in Midnight Mass), is already struggling with his mental health. When the kids disappear into a strange cave in the woods and return acting... different... Ben is the only one who notices.
But here is the kicker. Because of Ben's history with depression and "episodes," no one believes him.
It’s a classic gaslighting scenario, but applied to a supernatural horror context. When we talk about why there is something wrong with the children, we aren't just talking about the glowing eyes or the weird strength. We are talking about the social horror of being right about a threat and having the people you love look at you like you’re the monster.
The kids, played by Briella Guiza and David Mattle, do a fantastic job of being just "off" enough. They don't start out biting people. They start by staring. By standing too still. By saying things that kids shouldn't say. It's subtle, until it isn't.
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The "Creepy Kid" trope and why this movie subverts it
We’ve seen The Bad Seed. We’ve seen Village of the Damned. Usually, in these movies, the kids are either possessed by demons or they are aliens. In There Is Something Wrong with the Children, the origin is more atmospheric and folk-horror adjacent. There is this ancient-looking pit in the woods. They call it a fort.
The movie doesn't over-explain the lore. I appreciate that. Too many modern horror movies feel the need to give us a 10-minute monologue about a 14th-century curse. Here, the "why" is less important than the "what now?"
Margaret, played by Alisha Wainwright, is the emotional anchor. She is caught between her husband’s increasing mania and her best friend’s denial. The tension isn't just "will the kids kill them?" It's "will this marriage survive the next hour?"
Why the cave matters
The cave (or the "fort") represents the unknown. It’s a literal hole in the earth that swallows innocence. When the kids jump in—a scene that is genuinely jarring because of how casual they are about it—the movie shifts from a relationship drama into a full-blown nightmare.
Most horror fans complain that characters in these movies are stupid. In this case, their "stupidity" is actually just human denial. If your best friend told you your kid was a demon, you wouldn't believe them either. You’d think your friend was having a breakdown. That’s the brilliance of the script by T.J. Cimfel and David White. It uses the characters' history against them.
Realism in the middle of the supernatural
Let's get real for a second. Raising kids is exhausting. The movie captures that low-level resentment and exhaustion that parents feel, which makes them vulnerable. Ellie and Thomas are so desperate for a break that they hand their kids over to Ben and Margaret. They just want to drink and be adults for five minutes.
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That vulnerability is what allows the "something wrong" to take root.
If you look at the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb, you’ll see a divide. Some people hate the ending. Others find it haunting. It’s not a "clean" movie. It’s jagged. The violence, when it happens, is sudden and feels very "wet" and physical. It’s not CGI-heavy; it’s practical and mean.
Is there a deeper meaning?
A lot of viewers have pointed out that the film works as a metaphor for the fear of parenthood. Margaret and Ben have consciously decided not to have kids. Throughout the film, they are pressured—sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly—about why they haven't "started a family."
By the time we see that there is something wrong with the children, it feels like a dark validation of Margaret and Ben’s life choices. It’s like the movie is saying, "You were right to be afraid." This isn't a popular take in most "family-centric" media, which makes the film feel a bit more rebellious and cynical than your average Blumhouse production.
Practical takeaways for horror fans
If you're planning on watching this or similar folk-horror movies, keep a few things in mind to get the most out of the experience:
- Watch the background. Roxanne Benjamin hides things in the frame. The kids are often doing something weird in the periphery while the adults are arguing in the foreground.
- Pay attention to the sound design. The buzzing and the humming around the cave aren't just white noise. It’s designed to make you feel as physically uncomfortable as Ben.
- Check out the director's other work. If you like the vibe of this, Body at Brighton Rock is another great example of Benjamin's ability to turn a natural setting into a claustrophobic trap.
What to do next if you're a fan of this genre
The "evil kid" subgenre is actually quite diverse if you know where to look. If the ending of There Is Something Wrong with the Children left you wanting more of that specific brand of dread, you should move on to The Children (2008). It’s a British film that covers similar ground but with a much more viral, wintery bleakness.
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Another great follow-up is Goodnight Mommy (the original Austrian version, though the remake is okay). It plays with the same idea of "are these actually my children?" but from the perspective of the parent rather than the outsider.
For those interested in the psychological aspect—specifically the gaslighting of a partner with mental health issues—The Invisible Man (2020) is the gold standard. It hits those same beats of "I see the threat, but everyone thinks I'm the problem."
Final thoughts on the film's impact
This movie didn't break the box office, and it didn't win an Oscar. But it has found a steady life on streaming because it taps into a very specific, uncomfortable truth. We don't really know our children. We know the version of them they present to us.
When that mask slips, even a little bit, it’s the scariest thing in the world.
To get the most out of your next horror binge, try watching this as a double feature with Speak No Evil. Both films explore how social politeness and the refusal to "make a scene" can lead to total catastrophe. Sometimes, being "polite" is the most dangerous thing you can do.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Stream it on MGM+ or Amazon Prime. It’s the best place to find it currently without paying a separate rental fee.
- Compare it to "The Midwich Cuckoos." If you want to see the literary roots of this trope, John Wyndham's book is the definitive source text for the "creepy collective" of children.
- Watch the "making of" clips. Seeing how the young actors were directed to be "creepy" actually makes the movie more impressive, as they had to rely on body language rather than makeup.