Child’s Play 2019 is an updated and techy reboot of the 1988 original. Which I saw in theaters as a young teen on a date. Ahem. Poor choices all around, my friends. Anywhoo- does the 2019 Child’s Play scare and delight? And should your teens see this one? Child’s Play 2019 parent movie review will help you decide if it’s kid-friendly in any way. ps- if your family is opposed to seeing a table saw do serious damage or have issues with gooey gore, then it’s not.
So that movie poster right there? I won’t pretend it didn’t help get me to the theater this weekend.
Because as a Disney fangirl, it totally had me cackling when they released it.
Look, we all know who the box office winner will be this weekend. But I’ll give Child’s Play 2019 some props for the creative marketing here.
You can read my Toy Story 4 parent movie review if you need to compare the good toys vs the evil toys. But I’m guessing outside a few of us weirdos, both movies are trying to reach a very different audience despite the clever movie posters.
Does Child’s Play 2019 deliver the scares we want? How does it compare to the original 1988 Child’s Play? And most importantly, is this one kid-friendly or teen-friendly on any level? Here’s a Child’s Play 2019 parent movie review to help you decide.
Table of Contents
About Child’s Play 2019
A contemporary re-imagining of the 1988 horror classic, Child’s Play follows Karen (Aubrey Plaza), a single mother who gifts her son Andy (Gabriel Bateman) a Buddi doll, unaware of its more sinister nature.
Rated: R
Runtime: 90 minutes
Child’s Play 2019 Review
I saw the original in the theaters when I was heading into 9th grade. I remember laughing where I was supposed to be jumping and walking out of this movie just shaking my head and saying it was so dumb.
But it was the first horror movie I’d seen in a theater so it made a lasting impression on me.
To put this into context, and before you shame my parents for letting me see a horror film so young, as a kid, I was low-key obsessed with horror and slasher films. While my family didn’t have cable (and therefore, they didn’t know I had access to these movies back in the day) my friend across the street did. And since both her parents worked and we were home alone a lot, I got my fair share of scary movies at a crazy young age.
While this is not my genre now – I’m solidly in the Rom-Com lover camp- it once was. I went into Child’s Play 2019 thinking it would also be dumb and uninteresting.
Surprise: I was wrong on both counts.
Why Child’s Play 2019 Works
Fans of the original may be disappointed as this one doesn’t have the voodoo-possession storyline in it. The basis of the 1988 story is very different, even though we are still dealing with a deranged killer toy.
In this reboot, the doll is 2019 tech-savvy and with a quick upload, it links to your whole smart life: phone, TV, cameras, self-driving cars, etc. You can’t help but wonder, “do I really need Alexa in my life?” after watching how all this goes down.
That’s one of the smart changes I enjoyed for this version. Child’s Play 2019 is very much a modern take on the idea that the things we play with and connect with in life don’t always have our best interests in mind.
The acting is also much better in this version than the original with Gabriel Bateman, Aubrey Plaza, and Brian Tyree Henry creating relatable characters all around.
And honestly, you couldn’t have cast a better voice actor for Chucky than Mark Hamill.
The doll is creepy as can be, but somehow once it’s animated with the voice of Hamill, it makes it feel less so. Until the psychological thriller portion takes over and that voice pairs well with the mal-intent.
Overall, I’d rate this as a half psychological thriller and half gorefest. If you were hoping for all one or the other, temper your expectations here.
No-Guilt Fangirl Podcast Child’s Play Review
Are There End Credit Scenes In Child’s Play 2019?
No, but if you stick around anyway, you’ll get a treat.
Mark Hamill sings the Buddi song in the creepiest most fantastical way EVER. If you enjoyed the movie- or like Hamill’s voice-over work, it might be worth sticking around to give this a listen.
When Can You Pee During Child’s Play 2019?
Since this was a short movie at only 90 minutes long, I didn’t feel too much pressure to find a time to run to the bathroom here.
But there are a few moments that if you need to go, you should pick this time to pee during Child’s Play 2019.
- around 30 minutes in there’s a scene where Andy sees the boyfriend at his house, and he quickly leaves.
- around 47 minutes in there’s a visit to the trash shoot, and you can make a quick run at this point if needed!
Child’s Play 2019 Parent Movie Review
Maybe I was scared, I don’t know, but I didn’t want to see this one alone. So I took my 16-year-old with me.
This wasn’t his idea and he even looked at me like, “Are you SURE you want to see this?” but he rolled with it.
Is Child’s Play 2019 kid-friendly? Is it teen-friendly? Nope.
It’s a rated R movie with all the R rating strong language and gore/violence.
There were more swear words than I could keep up with in this one- coming from teens as well as adults. If you are sensitive to this at all, please skip this movie and skip it for your teens.
There are also scenes of teens behaving badly with minimal parental supervision: they steal, they lie, etc.
The gore is graphic and gooey and gross. A roto-tiller busts open a dude’s head, and a face is skinned off and put on a watermelon. So. Yeah… definitely not your typical family movie!
While the gore was there, there’s also a reference to the idea that kids are desensitized to this kind of violence in the movie. I appreciated the self-awareness and the discussions this could bring if you do choose to allow teens to see Child’s Play 2019.
But the areas that made both of us jump the most were the psychological twists. Chucky knows how to push buttons, so be prepared for some of that as well.
Rating: 6
Patty Holliday is a parent movie reviewer, writer, and podcaster living in the Washington, DC area. Her goal is to bridge the gap between casual fandom and picky critic with parent movie and television reviews. As a lifelong fangirl and pop culture connoisseur, she’s been creating online since 2009. You can find her work at No-Guilt Disney.com, No-Guilt Fangirl.com, No-Guilt Life, and as host of the top-rated No-Guilt Disney Podcast.