The Weird Kidz review
An animated camping trip gets derailed by two kinds of monsters.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
The Weird Kidz
Directed by Zach Passero
Written by Zach Passero
Starring Angela Bettis, Glenn Bolton, Sean Bridgers, Brian Ceely, Ellar Coltrane, Tess Passero and Sydney Warton
The Weird Kidz Review
Animated horror is a too rare breed of film. Every so often you’ll hear a rave about an anime movie…but nearly all of each year’s slate of releases are live action. It’s a bit strange, honestly. Animation fits horror as well as it does any genre. You can deliver blood and carnage however you see fit. There’s no worry about bad CGI or practical effects that don’t work. If you want a character to lose an arm…they can simply lose the arm. Comedies probably see the most animated efforts which kind of proves my point. No two genres are more linked that comedy and horror. It’s a lot of setups and punchlines. The Weird Kidz has both kinds on display. The funny kind…and the horror kind.
The overall setup of The Weird Kidz involves a camping trip. Three friends head out to the woods to camp with one’s older brother and his girlfriend. Along the way they are warned about a mythical creature that patrols the area. The “Night Child”. There wouldn’t be much of a story if something wasn’t out there…but The Weird Kidz has a bit more on its mind than a simple creature feature.
The first thing you’ll notice about The Weird Kidz is how much of a throwback its characters and dialog feel like. This is how kids talked to each other in those 80s movies people look back on and can’t believe what they’re hearing. It’s funny that it takes an animated movie to provide a more realistic look at what is going on in kid’s minds…but here we are. The boys are sexually curious about big bros girlfriend…they talk like kids who have heard adults talk and aren’t fully sure they always know what the words they’re using mean…and they’re brave to a fault. The kind of bravery that comes from ignorance mixed with the assumption that they’re going to get away with things at their age.
The dynamic between the older characters and their younger guests is an interesting one. While older brother seems intent on giving everyone a hard time…his girlfriend is a patient and understanding person. It’s kind of like being on a camping trip with your parents if they were dialed up to eleven. Or…maybe just my parents. I don’t know your life.
There is, of course, something in the woods. When you hear “Night Child” you probably picture some kind of humanoid demon. That’s not what’s out there. That’s not even all that’s out there. The Weird Kidz starts out like a creature feature and ends up being something even more. Our five characters (and one dog) are separated by…circumstance…and we watch a larger story unfold from two perspectives. (What’s left of) the characters who encounter the creature…and what becomes of the ones who think they’ve escaped. Animated or not…there’s just a really cool story happening here.
If you like animated movies, The Weird Kidz is a no-brainer. If you’re hesitant for some reason…think of The Weird Kidz as 80s movie kids running into a monster movie combined with another major issue. I don’t want to steal the story’s thunder by saying too much…but there is more to worry about than the deadly monster patrolling the area. The Weird Kidz does a great job teasing it all out too. What can be dismissed as “seeing things” eventually reveals itself to have been a hint at the direction the story will go.
The voice performances are universally strong. These feel like real people in ridiculous situations…and the voice work is a large part of why. The animation fits the material well too. I’m not nuanced enough with animation to tell you exactly what method is being used here…but it worked for me. That’s probably a point in its favor for anyone who doesn’t usually seek out animation. The Weird Kidz has a fun story, great characters with matching voice work and animation that lets the movie do whatever it can imagine doing next. I don’t know what more to want from animation than that.
It all comes together well…especially because the movie doubles as a coming of age story. While it isn’t pushing that to the forefront…it’s all intertwined in the movie’s DNA. Foul mouthed characters that do questionable things…yes. But likable ones who are learning to navigate a world that’s changing almost as quickly as they are within it. Again, it’s funny that an animated movie humanizes its characters more than most live action ones…but it furthers the point of what animation is capable of inside of this genre. Gore, laughs and great characters who act realistic in the face of absurdity. It’s a winning mix.
Scare Value
The Weird Kidz is a good horror movie first and foremost. It puts some strong characters into a unique situation that takes advantage of the lack of rules animation provides. There’s something in the woods…and something even more dangerous in the mix too. This is an easy recommendation to anyone who would like to scratch their animated horror itch and just as easy to recommend to anyone who wasn’t seeking one out to begin with. A sleek runtime means that nothing in the narrative drags whatsoever. A perfectly paced adventure/horror/comedy/coming of age story.
4/5
