What happens with children when there’s no adult around to take care of them? And what would children do to save themselves from a supernatural threat that hunts them in the dark? By mixing horror tropes with a deeper investigation of how childhood trauma defines us, The Lost Children (Les Enfants Perdus) delivers a surprisingly dark fairytale that’s a perfect fit for fans of the weird and macabre. Despite some pacing issues, it is a strong feature directorial debut for Belgian filmmaker Michèle Jacob who also penned the script.

The Lost Children follows four siblings who wake up in the vacation home of their family completely alone. Surrounded by the woods and with scarce resources, the initial joy that their unexpected freedom brings them soon turns into a nightmare. At first, it feels good for the siblings to have the house for themselves. However, as time goes by, and they can no longer wait for the father to return, the four siblings begin to realize something evil lurks in the trees.

To ensure the children remain isolated, Jacob traps the siblings in the vacation house by making every trail in the forest end up right where it starts. So, with nowhere to go, the siblings must count on each other to survive. To make matters worse, while every child begins to experience supernatural events, only Audrey (Iris Mirzabekiantz) is vocal about the terrifying things she sees. Audrey’s siblings, willing to ignore the gravity of their situation, refuse to acknowledge the dark presence stalking them, which often leads to conflict.

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‘The Lost Children’ Turns Repressed Memories Into Monsters
One of the biggest strengths in Jacob’s directorial debut lies in how the director trusts his young cast to explore their characters’ feelings with the honesty only a child has. Trapped in an impossible situation, the children of The Lost Children have to deal with fear, frustration, sadness, anger, and, ultimately, trust. It’s a complex mix of emotions that demands much of the cast. Still, the young actors commit to wearing their hearts on their sleeves, giving the movie incredible emotional depth. It’s always a joy to see stars in the making succeed where adults so often fail, and the cast of The Lost Children alone are already a good reason to watch the movie. On top of that, its intriguing premise also doubles as a powerful metaphor for childhood trauma.

Anyone has ever done a single therapy session is well aware of how the damage done by our parents in our childhood leaves deep scars that affect our adult lives. It’s not accurate to simply pin the blame on the parents, of course. Still, while nature plays its part when defining how we’ll begin our journey through existence, nurture defines how we turn out. It’s clear from the very start that The Lost Children intends to explore how the things that harm us when we are children become the monsters that hunt us at night. As the siblings’ situation grows more dire, the strange things they perceive are not always creepy things that bump in the dark but also echo repressed memories that haunt their past. In addition, Jacob masterfully creates an association between how the children behave during their unwanted confinement and the monsters that appear at night.

While The Lost Children seems to be primarily concerned about its deconstruction of the human psyche, we must give credit to Jacob for delivering truly spine-chilling tension. To tell this story, the film seizes the classic horror tools such as mysterious knocking on the walls and distorted shadows that gain life when there’s no light to protect us. Still, the horror of The Lost Children is crafted with such care that it’s impossible not to be engulfed in the heavy atmosphere Jacob creates during the movie’s first half. Unfortunately, the pacing suffers after an abrupt revelation shifts the movie’s tone.

Lack of Subtlety Hurts ‘The Lost Children’
Image via Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

While The Lost Children manages to keep us on the edge of our seat for most of its runtime, things get messier after introducing a twist to solve its main mystery. Though viewers may appreciate the movie’s commitment to connecting all the dots and leaving no questions unanswered, it lacks nuance when it comes to explaining what’s actually happening in the woods. Jacob approaches the issue with the insecurity of a debut feature, resulting in a turn of events less satisfying than it could have been.

Without spoiling any secrets, it’s important to emphasize that The Lost Children solves its biggest riddle too soon. After the movie turns on its heels, there are some loose threads that need to be solved, but nothing that the audience can’t deduce by themselves. Still, The Lost Children maintains its focus on the supposed mystery, prolonging a conclusion that we can already anticipate. As a result, the third act is too obvious to have the same impact as the film’s first half.

Despite its issues, The Lost Children is still a great addition to horror cinema, as equally terrifying and provoking as cult classics such as Tigers Are Not Afraid and Before I Wake. Furthermore, after a somewhat disappointing plot twist followed by too much exposition, things do improve, with a powerful final scene that almost makes up for its flaws. The Lost Children is the rare movie that gets you thinking about it long after the credits roll, as your brain goes over the details of each frame and remembers the marvelous details therein.

Rating: B

The Lost Children had its world premiere at 2023’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.