The Children

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The Children

R

2008

1h 24m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

50%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Two families gather at an upscale English estate in late December. Elaine (Eva Birthistle) and her sister, Chloe (Rachel Shelley), along with their husbands and children, are set for a weekend of family bonding and winter fun. But when they arrive, one of the children becomes sick, and all the children exhibit strange behavior. The adults don't realize the disturbing truth until it's too late: The children have contracted a disease that has turned them into brutal, psychotic killers.

Critics Consensus

Unsettling and spine-chilling low-budget British horror, with effective and disturbing scares.

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Anna Smith

Empire Magazine

Dec 5, 2008

3/5

Borrowing liberally from classic evil-children horrors, the gruesome deaths are inventive, but this is more about killer set-pieces than a satisfying story. A respectable genre outing.

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Nigel Floyd

Time Out

Dec 5, 2008

4/6

Shankland's approach is oblique rather than graphic, but these icy chills will send shivers down your spine.

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James Christopher

The Times (UK)

Dec 5, 2008

2/5

The grown-ups, rather hysterically, blame each others' parenting skills. The plot promptly disintegrates into a gory struggle for credibility against appalling odds.

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Sep 12, 2025

4/5

A nightmarish, fresh take on the "evil children" concept that feels wholly unique.

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Scott Weinberg

TheHorrorShow

Aug 28, 2015

A solid balance between set-up, conflict, and horrific execution. Just a well-made horror film all around.

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Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Oct 18, 2013

All build and no bang.

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Ian S

@RT48225084 Aug 16, 2025

The first half was annoying. The second half was predictable and the adults were all hapless. Doesn't add anything to the evil children genre of movies.

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Emilliano Jr S

@emill_santos Oct 24, 2024

Disturbing and creepy. It has a potential of a new horror franchise

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Chris

@RT82132244 Apr 13, 2024

It wasn't perfect, but nearly. I'm wondering if the writers came up with the idea after a holiday visit with bratty nieces and nephews. It is very well acted and disturbing without being overly gory (it's gory enough). About ten minutes from the conclusion, I heard myself saying, "wow."

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Patrick C

@RT66308151 Jun 11, 2023

I was surprised how scary this was! And not in a supernatural way. This is a really gory and shocking movie. I honestly can't even believe they went there. My blood pressure was through the roof watching this. I was already pretty sure I didn't want kids, now I'm positive! Great movie and very effective birth control.

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Dec 24, 2020

An extremely stupid annoying film that seems to take itself seriously for some reason. The adults are incompetent to the point of unintentional comedy, the children are rarely frightening and are usually only a threat because of the aforementioned incompetence. Oh and the first half of the film is full of the little kid characters screaming constantly, it literally gave me a headache. I could only understand like 75% of what was being said because of the rapid-fire let's-not-enunciate-anything British accents. The only enjoyment I got out this was watching these extremely dumb characters die in ridiculous ways where they basically defeated themselves, good for some laughs, and I guess the cinematography was decent. The film STRUGGLES to get to an 80 minute runtime, but thank god it wasn't longer, how TF does this utter GARBAGE have so many positive reviews on RT?

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michael d

@RT08912548 Dec 21, 2020

Fairly tense & a bit unsettling upper tier killer kids fare.

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Tom Shankland

Director

Eva Birthistle

Elaine

Raffiella Brooks

Leah

Stephen Campbell Moore

Jonah

Jake Hathaway

Nicky

William Howes

Paulie

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Synopsis

Two families gather at an upscale English estate in late December. Elaine (Eva Birthistle) and her sister, Chloe (Rachel Shelley), along with their husbands and children, are set for a weekend of family bonding and winter fun. But when they arrive, one of the children becomes sick, and all the children exhibit strange behavior. The adults don't realize the disturbing truth until it's too late: The children have contracted a disease that has turned them into brutal, psychotic killers.

Director: Tom Shankland
Producer: Allan Niblo, James Richardson
Screenwriter: Tom Shankland, Paul Andrew Williams
Production Co: Vertigo Films
Rating: R (Disturbing Bloody Violent Cont|Brief Drug Use|Language|Terror)
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 8, 2012
Runtime: 1h 24m

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