It is easy to dismiss this thriller as yet another generic retread of that particularly uneasy domain of horror populated by evil children, especially the way Collet-Serra orchestrates so many jolts and faux jolts within the first half hour. Yet, with a clever and genuinely convincing third-act twist, the film reveals itself to a well-staged deconstruction of our assumptions about horrorshows featuring preternaturally manipulative and malevolent children. It banks on our willingness to suspend disbelief that a 9-year-old girl could get the best of otherwise normal and intelligent adults and then smacks us upside the head with it. (Hollywood Jewel 16, Waco, TX)