Little Evil

This week I watched the Netflix original movie Little Evil, and I recommend it. It features Adam Scott from Parks and Recreation, and Evangeline Lily from Ant-man. I have to say that while the horror film centered around demon children and the antichrist are quite common, this doesn’t strike you as a true horror film, in fact it is listed as a horror/comedy. I can tell you that it is definitely more comedy than horror, and so even if horror isn’t your thing I think you would find it in you to like this movie.

What I want to talk about this week is the mise-en-scéne in a particular scene from Little Evil. As a reminder, because as students we all have too many things happening in our heads, mise-en-scéne is the staging of a scene. The scene below is what we are analyzing:

In this scene the main characters are at a birthday party for their child. Within this scene we see the normal signs of a birthday party: a child running in the background, parents talking and supervising their children, and presents on the table by said parents. Looking deeper shows the child all alone on the swing, isolating themselves from the party, implying that maybe they don’t feel comfortable there, or that they don’t have any friends there or even perhaps that they don’t actually know any of the children there.

The another thing is the parents with alcohol; maybe my birthday parties were just lame, but my parents never supplied alcohol to the parents of my friends at a get together that involved children. This could imply that whoever set up this party wanted the other parents to like them, or that they imagined that it would encourage more people to bring their children to the party.

If we look next to the parents we see a small pile of what look to be presents. I could infer from the little amount of presents that maybe people didn’t know what to get the birthday child, they were invited last minute, or didn’t know whether they were going. It is courtesy to bring a gift to a party you are invited to, especially a birthday party. 

If you look at the furthest background of this still, you see a cemetery. Throwing a birthday party next to a cemetery is not something you see very often. Mixed with the child who is playing alone, it gives this scene a very depressing feeling, even though it is supposed to be positive. I mean, who throws a party next to cemetery? Plus, if you look at the faces of the women in the foreground they look shocked, or like they were not expecting the location of the party perhaps, or something the man talking to them might have said.

There are many things that can be inferred from a single still of a movie or TV show. Not many people pay attention to the extra things that truly make up a scene in a movie because they are too transfixed on what is happening with the main characters. So if you decide not to watch this movie I at least hope you give the mise-en-scéne in the pictured scene a thought or two. Let me know what you notice, or what you think is happening in this scene. If you get the chance and are looking for a movie that is a comedy I would recommend this one, but that is my personal opinion and the fact that I thoroughly enjoy Adam Scott.