The new supernatural thriller Something is wrong with the children follows ellie (Amanda Crew, Silicon valley) and Thomas (Carlos Santos, generated), and their two children Lucy (Briella Guiza) and Spencer (Briella Guiza) (David Mattle) as they spend the weekend at a cabin with their old friends Ben (Zach Gilford, The Purge: Anarchy) and Margaret (Alisha Wainwright, Raising Dion). The seemingly ideal weekend is ruined by conflict as each couple grapples with personal issues in their separate relationships. However, the stress turns to madness when the kids start behaving abnormally after seeing a large, strange building in the woods, eventually disappearing.
We spoke to Crew about her role in the film, as well as diving back into the horror genre and working with her creepy-child co-stars.
Amanda Crew discusses that something is wrong with the kids
MovieWeb: Can you talk about how you got involved in the project?
Amanda Crew: Boring story, you know, your classic actor story. You will be sent to an audition. You’re like, “This looks cool.” You put it on tape and then you get a phone call. I had worked with Zach Gilford before, so I was really excited to work with him again, and I was excited to work with Roxanne Benjamin as a director. I have friends who have worked with her and I had heard such great things. . And of course Alisha Wainwright and Carlos Santos. It’s an incredible cast and I was really excited to get to work with such an amazing group of people.
MW: Can you talk about working with Roxanne as a director? Because this movie is definitely in her wheelhouse.
Crew: She’s such a horror fan. She has such a true love for this genre. Working with her drew me in her enthusiasm. She just came into this with such a clear vision and knew what she wanted and was so clear in conveying that to us as actors. I think sometimes you work with people who may have a clear vision but don’t know how to convey it to you. And so you feel like you’re just in the sea, just like, ‘I think we’re doing what we’re supposed to do.’ Roxanne just creates such an incredibly safe environment, which is why I never questioned what we were doing. I always felt I was in such solid hands. And again, her enthusiasm makes you just as excited about what we do.
Character development in There is something wrong with the children
MW: How would you describe your character, Ellie?
Crew: So Ellie is a mother and a wife, and what I love about Roxanne is that the way she was initially written was sort of a more stereotypical mother, wife archetype. And Roxanne is like, “We don’t. I hate when it’s the woman, and she’s got her little sweater on, and she’s like, ‘Where is everybody? I’m scared.’” She liked to give me concert T-shirts and cut-off shirts, and I’m messy. I was just leaning on the idea that she loves her kids, but she’s also just so exhausted in life and kind of going through a phase where she just thinks, “I’m just going to act.” So they’re going on vacation this weekend, and instead of the kind of mom who just adores the kids and makes sure they have a good time. She just drinks her wine. You know, she’s just there to have a good time for herself, and someone else will take care of the kids.
MW: She was very grounded and very realistic.
Crew: Oh, thank you.
MW: It’s not what you would normally expect from a mother character in the media. I know such mothers. They camp and drink and leave the kids alone.
Crew: (laughs) Yeah, mom has her mom juice, and the kids can just do their thing.
MW: You and Alicia had really good chemistry. I really got the feeling that you guys had been best friends for a long time. Can you talk about working with Alicia?
Crew: I didn’t know her before. I knew her, but I didn’t know her personally. Alice is so cool. We got along very well right away. She just embodies this kind of confidence that I really admire. Sometimes friendships between women can be a bit competitive, especially when it’s between actors, which is a shame. I understand where it comes from. It’s like internalized patriarchal shit in our world and our industry, but she doesn’t embody any of that. We just got along really well. She is so smart and so talented and so wise. I really admire her and thought she did such a great job in this role. She wore this movie and she did it so well. I couldn’t say anything bad about her. She’s just so incredible so it was really easy to befriend her. She’s also really funny. I can’t wait for people to start seeing her in comedic roles too, because she’s so funny. She’s just a force. She’s a star.
MW: The sub-stories in the movie are very grounded and very realistic. The issues you and your characters go through outside of the supernatural aspect of the movie could have been a movie of their own. Was that something that drew you to the movie?
Crew: Yes. I really like the kind of opening of the movie because it starts off as a really grounded one I don’t want to say a rom-com because it’s not like super comedic but it’s really rooted in these issues with marriages and it’s very much real; the dynamics and the tension between the couples. I’m always drawn to that because what I love about being an actor is portraying these emotions and real life, feelings and themes. Even if you put it in a horror movie, there’s the potential to touch an audience in some way. That was definitely one of the aspects that really appealed to me about the script. I was excited to play with the dynamics of these friends.
MW: You shot this in New Orleans, is that right?
Crew: Yes, we did.
MW: The gigantic complex the characters found… was that a real location, or was it a soundstage, or a bit of both?
Crew: No, it was a location. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like some kind of old mossy structure?
MW: I worked as a location scout for a while, so that really caught my attention. It was a spectacular set.
Crew: Yes, yes, they found it. I don’t know how or why it exists. I think they built some things into it, but it was real. The floor was wet. It wasn’t like a dry soundstage where you step out and go to the warm artisan service table. We were in a ruin.
I don’t know what’s wrong with these kids today
MW: I need to talk about the kids, Briella and David. I mean, they’re scary as hell.
Crew: They are so talented. So talented.
MW: Can you talk about working with them? Because of course working with kids can be tricky, but I thought they just crushed it in this movie.
Crew: I think they auditioned about 500 kids, and they just came to know what they wanted to do. I don’t know how they know to do that; just naturally knowing how to be creepy. But they are so against that. They’re so smart and fun and very smart and engaged, and all of this like floating properties. But then it’s time for action and they get really intense. But they were so much fun to work with. I really enjoy working with children because it forces you to really be present with them because they are so present. You have to watch out in case they go the other way. But it is also their joy and excitement. They discover what it means to be on set, and you remember, ‘Oh, yeah, this is really cool what we’re going to do, and that’s so cool that there’s a table with a bunch of snacks for us. Yes, that’s great.’
MW: This is not your first horror movie.
Crew: (laughs) No.
MW: Is it a genre you’re naturally drawn to, or do you just happen to get cast in these genre films all the time?
Crew: I really like horror. I don’t like watching horror, but I like acting in horror. I think it’s just so much fun. And to be honest, I feel like horror has been more advanced in the kind of writing they’ve been doing for female characters for a while now. That’s why I loved doing it, because I get to play these characters, especially in psychological thrillers, which are very layered. And I like a damaged character. I feel like those characters are often written in psychological thriller, horror type genres, and maybe they don’t take the chance of writing that nuances a character in other genres. A lot of the characters I’ve played are really disturbing and confused, and I like that. I find it boring to just play basic. I do not want to do that.
MW: Does your approach to a role differ depending on the genre and medium you work in? Say a movie like this versus, say, Silicon Valley, which is a very different character, and even a very different shooting schedule. Does that affect your approach to the role?
Crew: I think there is a foundation that always stays the same for me no matter what I do. And then it is absolutely different. I think what’s so cool about making movies is you bring your building blocks, like, ‘This is what usually holds me.’ But then someone else brings something that you think, “That’s so interesting,” and you can co-create together. So it is different every time. I think what’s important to me is that I love those foundational tools that always keep me rooted in my process, but then so open to all these other aspects.
Something is wrong with the children is available on VOD and digitally on January 17 and will be streamed MGM+ on March 17.