Imagine marrying the woman of your dreams and then finding out that she has a son… doesn’t bother you, right? Completely normal. How about finding out your new stepson has been conceived through the power of the antichrist? Now, I am not a believer in God or the devil but if my stepson started acting up strangely by looking at a blank television screen and talking through intimate objects, you probably would start praying.
Little Evil follows Gary (Adam Scott), an estate agent who has fallen in love and married the woman of his dreams, Samantha (Evangeline Lilly). He discovers that he has a stepson, Lucas (Owen Atlas) who he has to naturally bond with and become a father figure in his life. The difficulty is, his new found stepson was born through the un-denounced power of the antichrist, which makes it terribly difficult to do father-son bonding sessions.
Unfortunately, the film offers very little in terms of entertainment value. The biggest disappointment is calling this new Netflix original a comedy. I don’t think I laughed once throughout, probably merely chuckling just because how terrible the jokes are. Adam Scott has been a comedy pin point in many great films like Step Brothers and being a comedy genius within Parks and Recreation. It’s frustrating to see his comedy fall into stale acting and robotic movements. Considering he is the only big name within the film, you would think it makes the film more viewable but he was lost in a very mediocre plot. Director Eli Craig had the right idea with this film, Antichrist comedies are barely a thing but this movie isn’t going to make it a thing. His direction was lazy at times. The transitions between scenes were clever; the use of fast pace cut-aways made it easy to understand where the film was heading but other than that, the scenes were basic and felt plastic. Not only is he the director, his comedy writing credit should be stripped of him. The jokes had no punchline. You couldn’t even force yourself to laugh if you wanted to.
Overall, the film did not tickle my evil taste buds. As the title says, it offers little evil. It offers very little in every way. Little comedy, little direction and little evil. You see the trailer and think this could be something worth watching, but if I was you, I wouldn’t waste your time. I should probably stop naturally bingeing Netflix.
