Movie: The Children
Production Year: 2009
Tubi Provided Summary: A relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to violently turn on their parents.
Film Can Be Accessed At: https://tubitv.com/movies/417719/the-children?start=true
Does This Movie Pass The Bechdel Test: Yes
Character Analysis:
- Elaine: Sweet, caring, maternal, feminine
- Jonah: Caring, loving to his children, educator, feminine
- Chloe: “Hippie”, sweet, maternal, feminine
- Robbie: Goofy, druggie, playful, masculine
- Casey: Emo teenager, secretly caring, mix of masculine and feminine traits
- Miranda: Oldest daughter of Elaine and Jonah
- Paulie: Son of Elaine and Jonah
- Leah: Daughter of Chloe and Robbie
- Nicky: Son of Chloe and Robbie
Death Analysis
- Robbie: First to die, extended death scene, sleds headfirst into a garden rake before mutilated and finally dying off-screen, killed by Nicky
- Paulie: Second to die, quick death scene, skewered on a glass shard, killed by Elaine
- Chloe: Third to die, killed off-screen, stabbed in the die and killed off-screen, killed by Nicky and Leah
- Nicky: Fourth to die, quick death scene, skewered on a wood shard, killed by Casey
- Jonah: Fifth to die, killed off-screen, attacked in the car and killed off-screen, killed by Miranda
- Miranda: Sixth to die, quick death scene, hit by a car, killed by Elaine
Survival Analysis
- No confirmed survival
Final Statistics:
Character Sex Ratio: 5 Females: 4 Males
Character Survivor Ratio: 0 Females: 0 Males (not including ambiguous characters)
Character Death Ratio: 40% of Females to 75% of Males (not including ambiguous characters)
Final Takeaways:
The Children is an interesting and unusual watch in the horror genre. Aside from its lack of typical horror tropes, such as unsettling settings, dark environments, or unrealistic circumstances, the antagonists of the film are none other than the children expected to be the innocent victims. Additionally, the majority of the characters have mostly feminine traits, even the male characters.
The film is also an unusual one in the horror genre due to its passing the Bechdel test easily. Additionally, although the cast was fairly equally matched by sex, the death ratio was not. More males died in the film and additionally, particularly gruesome endings were mostly saved for the male character with all ambiguous endings saved for female characters. Due to this analysis with the Sex Role perspective and The Children passing the Bechdel test, this film makes for a surprisingly progressive film.
Shared by: Ariana Nichols
Image Credit: IMDb