Horror fans don’t ask for much. Give us a remote campsite, two stressed-out couples, a creepy cave, and a pair of children who behave like they were raised by a possessed Roomba, and we’re good. Thankfully, There’s Something Wrong with the Children, directed by Roxanne Benjamin, gives us all of this and green-glowing pits of evil on top.
It’s a simple premise elevated by great performances, confident direction, and the timeless truth that the scariest thing in any horror movie is a child who smiles politely while plotting your downfall. The film belongs in the growing pantheon of “Blumhouse movies that go surprisingly hard,” and it’s glorious in a way only a 2023 digital horror movie about demon kids could be.
Kids These Days… Are Ancient Cave Entities
The film introduces us to two vacationing couples:
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Margaret and Ben, the relatively stable pair
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Ellie and Thomas, the parents who thought taking their kids into the woods was a great idea (spoiler: it wasn’t)
Along for the ride are Lucy and Spencer, two children so cute they could be in an oatmeal commercial — until they start acting like interns for Satan.
The group stumbles upon a cave containing a well filled with sinister green light. This is a massive red flag to any adult with functioning instincts, but the parents shrug it off like it’s a mildly concerning art installation. Lucy and Spencer, on the other hand, stare into the glowing pit like it’s a Black Friday sale at Toys “R” Us.
This is where the film starts to shine, literally and figuratively.
Ben: The Only Man in Horror Who Actually Realizes Something Is Wrong
Ben, played by Zach Gilford, quickly becomes the movie’s MVP. He’s the only person who looks at the demon-possessed children and thinks, “Hey, something’s off.” Unfortunately, he also happens to be on mood stabilizers, meaning no one believes him. His friends treat him with the gentle condescension normally reserved for a raccoon rummaging through trash: “Oh, that’s just Ben being Ben.”
This sets up one of the best ongoing jokes in the film: Ben keeps being right, and everyone keeps ignoring him.
The children glare at him with the intensity of tiny cult leaders. They offer him snacks filled with bugs like it’s a Michelin-star prank. They lace Thomas’s drink with pills like they’re auditioning for Euphoria: Junior Edition. And yet the parents dismiss it all as “kids being kids.”
If these are kids being kids, someone needs to call a child psychologist. And maybe a priest.
The First Rule of Parenting: Don’t Let the Kids Fall Into a Demon Pit
The next morning, the children go missing. This is alarming for the adults but a mild inconvenience for the audience, who know the film’s title practically guarantees something supernatural is about to kick off. Ben finds the kids at the cave, and as he watches, they throw themselves into the pit.
Yes. They yeet themselves into a glowing hole like lemmings with a death wish.
But don’t worry — five minutes later, they’re back at camp completely fine, which is absolutely horrifying and also a deeply funny “Gotcha!” moment. This is where the movie goes from creepy to deliciously unhinged.
Nothing says “these children are not okay” like returning from the dead with the emotional range of a rebooted iPhone.
The Adults Are Falling Apart, and It’s Wonderful
From here, the film becomes a delightful downward spiral:
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The children get more malicious.
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Ben becomes more frantic.
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Margaret becomes more suspicious.
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Ellie and Thomas become more insufferable.
It’s a beautiful disaster of interpersonal tension. The film doesn’t just rely on supernatural horror; it feeds on relationship drama like a vampire sipping an oat-milk latte.
You can tell director Roxanne Benjamin absolutely loves the characters.
She also loves putting them in situations where their sanity is a delicacy for demon children.
The tension is palpable. The humor is dark. And the emotional realism makes the film feel grounded even when possessed children start cosplaying as forest goblins.
Spencer Hits Ben with a Shovel: A Scene You’ll Rewind for Dark Entertainment
One of the movie’s best sequences is when Spencer hits Ben with a shovel, and Ben accidentally kills him in self-defense. This is the kind of moment horror fans dream of: shocking, tragic, horrifying… and somehow grimly funny because you can FEEL Ben’s soul leave his body and plummet directly into despair.
This is not slapstick.
But it IS the cinematic equivalent of someone screaming, “I KNEW IT!” at the top of their lungs.
Of course, the other adults immediately blame Ben, because who wouldn’t believe the child who was literally demonically resurrected earlier?
Margaret Finally Gets the Memo
Margaret spends half the movie trying to support Ben without fully buying into the supernatural angle. But once she stumbles upon Ellie beaten nearly to death — courtesy of her “innocent” children — she finally realizes Ben isn’t having a mental health episode.
He’s just been living in a horror movie while everyone else thought it was an outdoor yoga retreat.
Her transformation from doubter to final girl is satisfying and surprisingly grounded. She doesn’t suddenly become a superhero; she becomes a person trying to survive two creepy kids who want to drag her into a glowing green pit.
The Cave Finale: Equal Parts Horror and “You Know What? Good for Her.”
The climax is a chaotic sprint through the woods filled with glowing eyes, demonic whispering, and a lot of screaming. When Margaret yeets the children into the pit, the audience collectively thinks:
Yes, Margaret. Finally.
Ben, now fully possessed and glowing like a Chernobyl nightlight, attacks her — but Thomas sacrifices himself to save her. It’s tragic, heroic, and weirdly sweet.
And then the ending…
Ah yes, the ending.
Margaret escapes by car but finds the children and Ben blocking the road, holding hands like the world’s creepiest family choir.
She slams the gas pedal.
Roll credits.
It’s bold.
It’s unhinged.
It’s spectacular.
Final Verdict
There’s Something Wrong with the Children is a refreshing, entertaining, wickedly fun dip into supernatural kid horror. It’s creepy without being dour, funny without losing its bite, and smart enough to know the biggest threat to adults is always children with too much energy and not enough supervision.
This movie is:
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part campfire tale
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part psychological unraveling
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part supernatural chaos
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part “this is why I don’t babysit” PSA
It’s Blumhouse at its best: small, tense, character-driven, and filled with just enough absurdity to keep you smiling through the terror.
If you love horror that mixes dread with dark humor, kid-creepiness with cosmic weirdness, and family drama with glowing green pits of doom…
Then there’s definitely something right with this movie.
