Reel Snippet – Little Evil
Summary: Gary (Adam Scott) and Samantha (Evangeline Lilly) got married and are moving in together. That means that Gary has to get to know her son Lucas (Owen Atlas). The problem is that Lucas is… creepy, complete with giving Gary earthworms as a present, talking through a creepy goat puppet, and people killing themselves or dying around him. After some digging with his friend Al (Bridget Everett), Gary discovers this his new son-in-law might in fact be… the Antichrist. As Lucas’ attacks on Gary get more aggressive, signs of the end of the world are getting more frequent. Gary will have to stop Lucas somehow… by killing him or connecting with him.
Review: Little Evil was wicked clever and funny to boot with great performances from the cast improving it. The film reminds me of Shaun of the Dead with a lot of humor focusing on average folk underreacting to the strange and fantastical while the ending evokes thrills, chills, and quite a bit of heart. It’s also chock full of references to other classic horror movies such as Poltergeist, The Shining, and possibly The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby (and those are just the ones I caught). The best part is that the references are done in a way that they stand on their own as jokes, even if you don’t know where they come from.
The cast is perfect for the movie, especially Adam Scott who just brings his Parks and Recreation performance back, but it works here. Evangeline Lilly does really well as the incredibly oblivious mother of someone obviously evil, though her character got a bit grating. Clancy Brown appears as a creepy reverend and it’s absolutely perfect. The most bizarre one is Bridget Everett because it’s not clear whether her character is using a nickname or is trans. It’s progressive either way because her character is married to a woman, but it’s hard to tell in what way it’s being progressive (I personally believe that Al is trans, though).
It’s a shame that this movie came out last year because I think it could have wound up on my year-end best list. It’s witty and funny, but also full of heart. It’s worth checking out, especially since this is a Netflix original and people should send a message to Netflix that we want more of this. I’d say more, but this is honestly something you should experience for yourself.
Fun Tidbit: Sally Field, appears as a member of Child Protective Services in the film, happens to be the mother of the film’s director, Eli Craig.
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