Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Seventeen-year-old Shirley is a good student who works as a babysitter in order to make money for college. One night Michael, a father Shirley works for, confesses he's unhappy with married life. Shirley has a crush on Michael, and seizes this moment to kiss him. Michael is so happy he presents Shirley with a big tip, which gives her an idea. Shirley plans to make extra money by setting up her teenage friends with other unhappy fathers.
The Babysitters takes a genuinely provocative premise — a teenage girl who turns babysitting into an escort ring for suburban dads — and handles it with more dramatic seriousness than exploitation. The plot has a compelling arc of moral decline and power dynamics, though it loses steam in the final act. Acting is serviceable, with Katherine Waterston showing early promise in the lead role. Cinematography is functional but unremarkable, fitting for a low-budget indie. The concept is distinctive enough to earn above-average novelty, even if the execution doesn't fully capitalize on the premise's potential. The ending feels abrupt and underwritten, failing to deliver a satisfying emotional or thematic resolution to the provocative story it set up.