Hide and Seek (2005) Spoiler Review

Hide and Seek is the story of a father, David, and his mentally unstable daughter, Emily, who experience strange occurrences since Emily makes an 'immaginary friend' she names 'Charlie' following her mother's tragic death which she had left traumatised by. The mystery of the story is to who Charlie is any why he is trying to make Derek's life misery.

The film opens with Emily and her doll spinning round and round on a round-about. This is an ideal way of introducing the child's confused characteristics that are to define her personality shortly having been traumatized by finding her mother dead bathing in her own blood in the bathroom. The colour's are bright and the atmosphere is jolly as the child and mother are laughing. This is ideal in showing the audience Emily's transition from being happy to being traumatized and psychotic.

The last time Emily sees her mother alive, she is in a bright doorway against the dark room which she closes. This is ideal in showing the last memory of the Emily's mother from the her point of view. This scene is very significant as it demonstrates the light closing on her demonstrating life. The scene is repeated several times with the father in the new house, however he does not close the door and leaves it slightly open. Later on in the film I came to realize Emily captures these moments in her drawings. We can learn this as the surrounding is dark.

At the beginning of the film Emily makes what appears to be an imaginary friend she names 'Charlie'- who her father believes is the cause of the strange occurrences. The audience are led to believe that Charlie is a demon due to her drawings and the strange occurrences. But others are led to believe that Charlie is a representation of Emily's evil behavior and knowlege of these strange occurances. However, the twist to this is that Charlie is in reality who she refers to as her father's split personality which is revealed to us in the ending- but David forgets these occurrences as if he is another person.This shot shows Emily's desperation as she moves eagerly towards her father as if for forgiveness, but her innocence is unknown to the audience.  Her figure is darker in the shot in comparison to the light in the background which only adds to the effect.

The location of the film is ideal as it's remote and away from the city. This is shown through the long journey during the opening title sequence. The setting is usually dark when the strange occurrences happen as well. It also rains alot during the film to give a sense of sadness.


The story is repetitive as Derek continues to wake up at 2:06 exactly to be led to the bathroom with a different message in the bathroom- the room in which he found his wife dead. The lighting is perfect as its dark and the candles make the message noticeable and strange as it stutters. The audience are also given the message it is Emily who wrote these messages as it is written in crayon and there is an innocent teddy below it. The audience are also told Charlie wants to ruin Derek's happiness so we know this is aimed at him. We are to learn that Derek was in fact responsible for his wife's death as his dreams gradually unravel the truth.

The trailer briefly shows the finale to the conclusion as Emily is running and Derek is calling her name but we do not directly see him, so the audience can get the impression that she is running from her own father. The film finishes in a dark cave with Emily covering her eyes from the horror of the event, possibly in the hope that it was all just a dream and in the hope that the past does not repeat itself.

In conclusion, Hide and Seek is great psychological thriller as it successfully demonstrates the characters mental illnesses and can make the audience believe in events that are not occurring. This is achieved by using a restricted sequence within the film. I would highly recommend the film to people who enjoy  unsolving mysteries and puzzling elements of a film together to discover the truth.

Overall rating: 4/5