Children of Sorrow (2012) User Reviews

No filler thriller

[shawnblackman · 5/10 · 27 September 2014]

A group of distraught teenagers are lured to a "get better camp" by a self proclaimed pastor/counsellor who has a hidden agenda.

These teenagers have been majorly messed over so their minds are easily manipulated. The controlled diet and fears being preyed on play a factor as well.

This is one of those movies where everything happens in the last few minutes. Done in found footage fashion although it would have been scarier if you didn't see Simon's face(the cult leader).

I felt like I was at an 80 minute AA meeting the way they do the taped interviews and group interactions.

Unfortunately you have to pay attention to the boring first 80 minutes because subtle things and quick scenes put together the crux of his madness.

If you don't mind going up a steep hill for 80 minutes to have an 8 minute ride then you'll like this movie. But if you want action and fast forget it.

No one boldly goes where no ones gone before, but you won't mind it. Be warned though you have to watch a man with a semi use a desk drawer to reach climax.

How to start your own cult. Instructions and demonstrations included.

[face-819-933726 · 5/10 · 25 April 2014]

After Dark are a very solid hit/miss movie production company, and with this movie they have swung hard on a solid miss. Everything is there for a good psychological thriller, but too many of the situations are forced, and never completely explained. A great over all cast of players, but the characters they are given just don't show their real motivations, and the abused among them never seem to even flinch at the new abuses that are now piled on to them from their new Father, or the family around them at his direction. This writing is slappy, and silly most of the time, and the rest of the time it just feels like the cast were expected to Improv the meat of the story themselves. I did not really Enjoy this movie, it is the wrong kind of creepy, and even though it is evil from the start, and you do get a new sort of pregame kind of strangely edited in scenes of the work done before the flock arrive to set up the compound just how they need it(including killing the original occupants it would seem). You are given an ending though it comes too quickly, and there I personally was not convinced that these people would all have been that willing to die after only being there 40 days. This is not a very Enjoyable movie, there is just too much left unseen, and the sexual predation of the Father is too much, perhaps if we had been shown some form of drugs being used to mess up the minds of the flock I would have found it more convincing. I do not recommend this movie even to thriller junkies, it is long, and boring, and though it can be quite disturbing, it does not really go deep enough.

IT'S A DESERT. IT FEELS HOT

[nogodnomasters · 3/10 · 17 April 2019]

Ellen (Hannah Levien) gets a letter from her sister Janet who has joined a cult in in the Mexican desert. She opts to join up with Simon Leach's (Bill Oberst Jr.) group. We know from the opening filming the man is a phony. The most comical thing is his generic "Certificate of Achievement" he has proudly framed and hung on his wall dating back to the 1990's. "Holy Ghost People" has a similar plot and is the better of the two films.

I will say, I liked the acting and even some of the characters. In fact the film went no where for a long time as we watched people wash clothes and play kickball leading up to their "transition moment" made boring by the hand held genre. When our gang wasn't engaged in boring activities, they gave equally boring interviews about their life to fill all 88 minutes.

Not recommended, even as a rental.

Parental Guide: F-bomb, groping, brief male nudity (Bill Oberst Jr.)

A new brand of Boredom.

[Patient444 · 2/10 · 5 March 2014]

2 it is! The perfect grade for this movie! Why, you ask? Well, let's see, the subject is horrible, overly used, and executed not in a horror like style, but torture porn. The acting is let's say somehow acceptable, a little over half of the movie nothing happens, sure, they may have tried to build some character depth, but I think it ultimately failed, cause you don't really get to feel much for anyone. Just hate the main one and move on.

So yeah, I guess the movie has one solid performance, as you do get to hate the main actor, but it could also happen cause the movie is so bad and he is the face that appears the most, so making a bound between these two, you end up hating the movie, the always there face and voice and the fact that you wasted your time on a movie called "Children of Sorrow"!.

What can I say? Bad choice...these things happen. But hey, you live and learn right. Anyway, don't let others make the same mistake. Warn people. Absolutely nothing to see here, stay away! Far far away! The movie takes place in a desert. So just leave it there!

So confusing

[besimms · 1/10 · 5 March 2014]

I was anticipating "Children of Sorrows" to be watchable, to say the least. I did not have any high expectations.

After 30 minutes i switched it off. The storyline was so confused and unstructured. It left one trying to interpret what the hell was happening. Sure, a girl goes looking for her sister in a cult, but there is not real background story.

Nor was there any explanation as to why the cult leader was so obsessed with having to film everything.

There was also a jump in the protagonist's video diary. We are at "Day 2" and then all of a sudden we are at "Day 7"! What happened to the other 4 days?

The whole movie was poorly thought out. The concept may have actually worked if the makers of this movie put more effort thinking about the execution.

Overall, do not waste your time watching this! It is so poorly thought out, with no storyline or structure!

Oberst lets it all hang out

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 16 December 2018]

CHILDREN OF SORROW is another indie horror, but at least this one is a bit different from most out there. The setting is the headquarters of a deranged cult leader, played by genre favourite Bill Oberst Jr. A girl has gone missing and her sister wants answers. It's pretty predictable stuff but at least it focuses on acting rather than bloodshed throughout, although there are some unpleasant 'torture porn' moments here and there. Oberst Jr. lets it all hang out in a typically provocative performance.

want my hour and a half back

[fingolfin10 · 1/10 · 29 December 2021]

Just came here to low the rate, 4.2?? Ridiculous, this is trash, boring as hell, a disaster. Dont watch this even if you get paid to.

Plot? Trash Acting? Trash The only thing mediocre were the killings, but that doesnt even deserve a 2 star rate.

Sick...

[RosanaBotafogo · 7/10 · 14 June 2020]

Sickly, it would work better if it weren't in the found footage format, but back in 2012, it was the peak, it must have worked, in the style of a denunciation film, the deaths work well, the introduction is even pleasant, the outcome is great, and it criticizes the sects and / or people with a gift of oratory and high power of persuasion vs the psychological fragility of young people... Sick...

A young woman infiltrates a cult looking for her missing sister. But becomes infatuated with the members and the charismatic yet sadistic Cult Leader Father Simon.

[jonpatswope · 8/10 · 7 March 2014]

I disagree with the negative reviews about this film. Children Of Sorrow is definitely not for the faint of heart. The film is a slow burner, but deeply gets inside your head and stays there. I just watched this film last night but I found myself thinking about how disturbing it was all day today. Children Of Sorrow successfully blends many genre techniques The Camera work is done in the "found footage" stylization which lends an intentionally uncomfortable reality to the experience. At times Children Of Sorrow lends itself towards the Slasher and Gore Film Genres, yet maintains an eerie psychological feel. It also had a tone of social commentary dealing with religion and social fears. The performances are good but the sociapathic Father Simon character portrayed brilliantly by Bill Oberst Jr. is haunting and psychologically disturbing. I admit at times certain parts were somewhat confusing and hard to follow. But as a whole I thought this was a very good Horror Film. One of the best to come out this year.

Not for the weak minded or weak stomach!

[mppws50 · 10/10 · 10 March 2014]

If you didn't understand this movie, you probably shouldn't be watching it. This is probably the best movie I've ever seen. But if you're confused and interested in what this movie actually means, let me explain.

This movie is all about Satan. Father simon = father Satan.

There are a few different ways to interpret this movie...there is of course the main plot..which is described here by IMDb. And then there is the "real" way to explain it.

Basically, these people are mentally disturbed, or possibly even children of Satan. Psychopaths....people who are either spiritually for evil/Satan, or perhaps the reason behind these people's feelings is scientific.

There are people out there who cannot really feel emotion. These people basically rely on the most "extreme" things in life to feel "joy" which is only temporary. This joy comes from murder, torture, and sex. They have no desire to live. They would much rather be dead. That is why you see them feel the most joy they have felt in life when they are about to die.

Now these people have pretty much been screwed by society, because they are the people locked up in prisons or mental facilities. Most people in life thrive for love, having a family, having a job...etc...enjoying life. These people literally thrive for death. And they cannot get what they want, because it's not accepted by society. So these followers of Satan come together to an area where they can all be themselves. Sexually perverted, psychopathic murderers. An area where they can be "themselves."

EVERYTHING IN THIS MOVIE IS A SEXUAL REFERENCE. Literally everything. "smile" = vagina (i think..or something like that) "birdhouse" = vagina...I believe it's even taken from the perspective of a penis. Watch the eye movements and the hidden messages. They have clothes on in the movie but I believe that they don't "really" have clothes on. (just an illusion..it's hidden)

The "gate" you see I believe is the "gateway to hell." These people WANT hell, which is why the girl who cried before dying was killed OUTSIDE the gates, basically hell denied her.

I believe these people are incapable of feeling "love" only "lust."

As a person of Jesus, I get very confused watching this movie. I honestly don't know how to respond to people like this. If you lock them up, you hurt them more..but you lower the risk of "good" people being hurt by them. And you take away what they actually desire, which is death. So it raises a question for me...how can you allow these people to exist among others? If you give them freedom, innocents get hurt. If you lock them up, you take away their rights and basically force them to believe what society sees as right. So WHAT IS EVIL? Are these people BORN Of Satan? is their condition MENTAL? is there something supernatural going on here? I don't know...I really don't know. When father simon mentions the police, and says "it's coming" I believe that is a reference to the new world order movement, or possibly a satanic prophecy being fulfilled soon. I'm not like most "christians" .....most of them would absolutely hate these people. But I don't hate them, I think they live the saddest life possible. a life without the ability to feel like humans should. Mankind needs to develop a way for these people to live free as well, but in a way that doesn't put others in danger.

Imagine your brain is wired backwards. Like...lust = love...hate = good. torture = joy. where does that leave you? that's a question I'll never be able to answer, but if there is indeed a heaven, I will ask God why these people have been cursed with this life. Love everyone. God can't we find a way to allow true freedom in a way that keeps the good safe from evil...*confused*

Superb performance from Jaquelyn Johnson

[keyworkersclub · 9/10 · 24 October 2014]

Desperate to discover what has become of her sister, Ellen (Hannah Levien) infiltrates Simon Leach's (Bill Oberst Jr.) cult. All she knows is that her sister was last seen joining his group in order to find herself, only to go missing after joining. Ellen is welcomed with open arms and although her initial intent is to search for her sister, she finds herself drawn to Simon's magnetic personality and message of love and acceptance. However what she soon discovers is that she, along with all of the cult's companionship-hungry members, are being manipulated to a more sinister and dark end than she could have predicted. Somewhat saved by a superb and haunting performance by Jaquelyn Johnson as Tracey. She is clearly destined for bigger and better roles.