The Children

Two couples take off on a Christmas holiday with their five children – 4 who are very young and a big sister – going through adolescent angst with Goth leanings. Once they arrive in an idyllic country house, the children try increasingly to get more attention from their parents so they can all play together. From tears to consolation, from screams to laughter… just until an accident happens, or what the parents believe is an accident.

The Children belongs to the evil children tradition in horror films, like The Omen or Death is Child’s Play. In Shankland’s film, children are small, but the means that parents must eventually employ to try and stop them are anything but. After watching this film, you will see your own children in a different light.

TOM SHANKLAND

Tom Shankland first studied cinema at the University of Bristol, followed by studies at the National Film School. After directing short films (You Know My Story, Shadow, Bubbles, Bait, Going Down) as well as episodes for a TV series (Marple: the Moving Finger), he turned out his first feature film, the horror thriller WAZ, widely travelled on the festival circuit. The Children is his second feature film.