Main cast: Charlie Shotwell (Eli Miller), Max Martini (Paul Miller), Sadie Sink (Haley), Lili Taylor (Dr Isabella Horn), and Kelly Reilly (Rose Miller)
Director: Ciarán Foy
Eli Miller, the boy that gives this movie its title, is born with a defective gene that, about four years ago, results in him becoming makes his skin violently breaks out in demonic red rashes shortly after he steps out of the house. As a result, he has to wear this protective gear at all time.
Well, there may be an end to all of this, as his parents Paul and Rose bring him to this big manor that is supposed to some kind of hospital. There, Dr Isabella Horn tells Eli that she can perform some “viral gene therapy” that will use an “encoded viral gene” to correct his defective gene.
Of course, the “science” of all this clearly hogwash, which should be a red flag that something is amiss with the whole situation, but the redder flag is Lili Taylor playing Dr Horn. Come on, she has been playing shady characters in horror movies for ages now, so who is going to be fooled by Dr Horn’s initially pleasant façade?
Unsurprisingly, Eli soon experiences strange happenings in the place. Hallucinations, ghosts, jump scares… the whole thing feels like every bog standard scary film in set a dark house that is out there, complete with a twist that is pretty standard for folks that have seen many movies of this sort.
Speaking of the twist, I wish the movie had tried harder to pretend that the whole premise of a defective gene is something that should be taken seriously. Bad science aside, Dr Horn’s treatments don’t even come close to anything resembling gene therapy, so right away it’s obvious that the kid having a defective gene that makes him break out in super red hives outdoors is a load of baloney.
While the horror elements are far from interesting or memorable, I find myself riveted nonetheless because of the above average performances from Charlie Shotwell and Kelly Reilly. Yes, this one has a performance from a child actor that isn’t irritating, imagine that. These two make a very convincing mother and son with a very realistic bond of affection between them, and this relationship anchors the movie in a solid emotional foundation when it becomes increasingly absurd.
In the end, yes, Eli is forgettable and cookie cutter for the most part, but the cast members manage to elevate the material from “must-skip” to “nobody will likely get hurt from watching this”.
