A Sadie Sink Netflix Horror Movie Feels Like A Winner, So What Went Wrong?
Of all of the young actors to break through thanks to the success of "Stranger Things," Sadie Sink has had arguably one of the most interesting career trajectories. Sink got her start on Broadway playing the titular role of "Annie," and had a handful of TV appearances on shows like "The Americans" and "Blue Bloods" before nabbing a main role in "American Odyssey." Unfortunately, that show only lasted one season, canceled by NBC only two days after the season finale. When Sink was cast as Max Mayfield on "Stranger Things" in season 2, she immediately became a fan favorite. Max has become the bleeding heart of the series, and her popularity even prevented show creators, The Duffer Brothers, from killing off the character in season 4 as originally planned.
Following "Stranger Things," Sink has continued to thrive by starring in "Fear Street: 1978," Taylor Swift's short film, "All Too Well," Darren Aronofsky's "The Whale," and the teen drama "Dear Zoe." Sink's star only shines brighter with every project, and she's become one of those performers that audiences will seek out to watch, regardless of drama. Given her history with genre films, especially horror, the 2019 film "Eli," with Sink in a supporting role sounds like a no-brainer success. Unfortunately, the film was produced by Paramount under their Paramount Players banner but was unceremoniously passed off to Netflix. It was the first film from Paramount Players to not receive a theatrical release, and both audience and critical reception have been less-than-stellar.
So what happened? Why has "Eli" faded into obscurity? Is the film truly as bad as people say it is? Let's dive in and try to solve the mystery of "Eli."
What is Eli about?
Released in 2019, "Eli" was directed by Ciarán Foy (the horror flicks "Citadel," "Sinister 2") from a screenplay by David Chirchirillo, Ian Goldberg, and Richard Naing. As the writer of the massively popular "The Autopsy of Jane Doe," and the co-showrunner of AMC's "Fear the Walking Dead," Goldberg in particular brings some serious horror cred. The original screenplay was a solo venture from Chirchirillo, and it wound up on the 2015 Black List of the best-unproduced screenplays of the year, alongside films that would also eventually get made like "All the Money in the World," "White Boy Rick," "Senior Year," and "Lucy in the Sky."
The film is about a young boy named Eli (Charlie Shotwell) who lives with a mysterious autoimmune disorder requiring him to wear what is essentially a space suit as the germs in our own atmosphere could make him extremely sick. It's like "Bubble Boy," but less goofy looking and a lot more depressing. His parents eventually bring him to a mysterious medical center in an old home that turns out to be haunted, effectively trapping the sick child with malicious supernatural forces. No one believes Eli's claims, but he befriends a young girl named Haley (Sadie Sink) who assures him that what he's experiencing is very real, and attempts to help him out.
From there, "Eli" takes a wild and unexpected turn, a twist reveal that seems to be what polarizes audiences the most. How viewers feel about this twist and the subsequent events that follow seem to make or break a viewing experience, so don't worry, I won't be spoiling it here.
Eli does not deserve the hate
"Eli" was released in 2019, which was an unbelievably stacked year for horror. Just to name a handful of the films "Eli" had to compete against, the Netflix flick arrived in the same class as "Midsommar," "Us," "The Lighthouse," "Sweetheart," "Crawl," "Doctor Sleep," "Swallow," "Synchronic," "The Lodge," "Daniel Isn't Real," "Ready or Not," "It: Chapter 2," "Happy Death Day 2 U," "Color Out of Space," "Come to Daddy," "The Perfection," "Lords of Chaos," "Climax," and even "Escape Room." This is to say that expectations for horror were extremely high because multiple groundbreaking and genre-defying films all came out at the same time. In another year, "Eli" probably wouldn't have been judged quite as harshly.
This isn't to say that "Eli" is some misunderstood classic, but it's nowhere near as bad as the 37% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes would have you believe. I'm a firm believer that horror films willing to take wild risks are to be celebrated, and "Eli" is the furthest thing from a paint-by-numbers haunted house flick. There are moments where the low budget is certainly visible, but if anything, it makes the moments that do work feel all the more impressive, knowing that this was a production clearly plagued with financial limitations.
Now that "Eli" is a few years from release, it seems like the perfect time to give the film a rewatch. The circumstances of when we see a film can absolutely impact our reception of the final product, and perhaps a viewing sandwiched between Jordan Peele and Mike Flanagan did a lot more harm than good. With expectations tempered, give "Eli" a watch on Netflix and see if the massive twist is right for you.
If it is, you're in for a shockingly demented treat.