The Babysitter was the film I was looking forward to most this Halloween season. It's directed by McG (who doesn't have the best track record when it comes to directing films), and the movie went through several delays until it was decided it would be released directly to Netflix. While all this did send alarm bells ringing in my head, the premise and trailer looked fun enough. In The Babysitter, 12 year old Cole (Judah Lewis) is afraid of almost everything. He pines after his smoking hot babysitter, Bee (Samara Weaving). When she promises him to throw a party when his parents leave for the weekend, Cole couldn't be happier. Unfortunately, Bee and her friends ( Max played by Robbie Amell, Sonya played by Hana Mae Lee, Allison played by Bella Thorne, and John played by Andrew Bachelor) are actually part of a satanic cult that wants Cole's blood because of its purity. It's up to the kid who's afraid of everything to conquer his fears and put an end to his crush's madness.
Everyone does a pretty fine job acting wise, with the standouts being Judah Lewis as Cole, Samara Weaving as Bee, and Robbie Amell as Max. Samara Weaving and Judah Lewis actually have surprisingly strong chemistry during the first act and are super cute together. It's not hard to fall for Bee yourself as she is super smoking hot and has a very attractive personality. It got to the point where I kind of wanted them to end up together. Max is a muscular jock who hides a somewhat soft heart under his tough exterior. He takes breaks from his pursuit of Cole to actually give the kid advice, and gives him several chances to stick up for himself (My favorite line of his : "Don't worry kid, I won't let you die with egg on your face."). Cole himself is at first glance, a loser, but he proves to be a pretty cool kid despite his numerous fears (his first scene is him freaking out over having to get a shot. I can totally relate). He proves to be surprisingly capable, although he makes many stupid mistakes along the way.
Unfortunately, despite a fun premise and likable leads, it's clear why The Babysitter went through so many delays: It's not that good of a film. The first act is all obvious set-up for things to come later in the film. It's overly stylistic to the point where it can feel like the film is over-compensating. Some of the stylistic choices work, most do not though, and are just flashy and come across like McG is yelling "Look at me! Look at me!. It feels like most of the style found within, while fun, has no reason to exist. That said, The Babysitter does have some nice bait-and-switches that I did not see coming, so props to that.
In the end, The Babysitter was a disappointment. It stretches believability at points, the characters make stupid decisions throughout (one example: The cult sees Cole trying to cut through a rope they restrained him with and even comment on this, but do nothing to stop him), and the numerous stylistic choices end up hurting the film in the long run. Luckily, the characters are likable and our main leads are pretty great (plus, there's a steamy extended make-out scene between Bella Thorne and Samara Weaving). The Babysitter isn't a great film (or even really a good one when all is said and done), but it is silly, stupid fun. If that sounds like your cup of Pumpkin Spice, maybe you should check it out.
2 Stars
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