Tamara Smart
Kelly Ferguson
Overview
Recruited by a secret society of babysitters, a high schooler battles the Boogeyman and his monsters when they nab the boy she's watching on Halloween.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
7 min readThe Monster Under the Bed Is Netflix’s Algorithm
I’ve seen this movie before. Not this movie, exactly—there’s no other film about a secret society of babysitters who hunt monsters—but the kind of movie. The kind that arrives on Netflix with the quiet confidence of a franchise starter, its ending teeing up sequels that may never come.
The kind that borrows so liberally from the genre’s greatest hits (here, Labyrinth’s labyrinthine whimsy, Hocus Pocus’s Halloween mischief, Buffy’s slayer swagger) that it feels less like a story and more like a mood board brought to life. A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting is a film that knows its audience—kids who’ve outgrown Goosebumps but aren’t ready for Stranger Things—and it delivers exactly what that audience has been trained to expect.
That’s both its greatest strength and its most glaring limitation.
Rachel Talalay, the director, has spent much of her career navigating the space between mainstream appeal and genre innovation. She’s helmed episodes of Doctor Who and The Flash, franchises that thrive on their own self-referential energy, and A Babysitter’s Guide feels like a natural extension of that sensibility. The film’s visual style is a pastiche of witchy steampunk and art deco flourishes, with the Grand Guignol’s lair looking like a cross between a Victorian apothecary and a mad scientist’s workshop.
It’s the kind of aesthetic that’s instantly recognizable—oh, this is the part where the villain monologues in a room full of gears and fog—and that’s by design. Talalay isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel; she’s trying to make the wheel spin faster, louder, and with more neon.
The problem is that the wheel doesn’t always spin smoothly. The plot is a Rube Goldberg machine of genre beats: a reluctant heroine (Tamara Smart as Kelly Ferguson, a math whiz with anxiety), a kidnapped charge (Ian Ho’s Jacob, who’s basically a tiny, bespectacled Macaulay Culkin), a secret society of babysitters with cool gadgets, and a villain (Tom Felton’s Grand Guignol) who’s equal parts campy and sinister.
The film moves at a breakneck pace, but it’s a pace that often feels more like treading water than swimming forward. Scenes rush by in a blur of CGI monsters and quippy one-liners, and the emotional stakes—Kelly’s fear of failure, her desire to prove herself—get lost in the noise. There’s a moment early on where Kelly’s math homework literally floats in the air around her, equations glowing like fireflies, a visual shorthand for her intelligence and her overwhelm.
It’s a clever idea, but the film never really explores what that overwhelm means. Instead, it’s just another set piece, another box to check.
Felton, though, is having the time of his life. As the Grand Guignol, he’s an unholy mashup of Draco Malfoy’s sneer and Tim Curry’s Rocky Horror flamboyance, all velvet coats and arched eyebrows. He’s the kind of villain who monologues with a smirk, who twirls his cane like he’s conducting an orchestra of chaos, and it’s hard not to get swept up in his glee.
Audience Opinions
Audience 4.8/10
"A lighthearted but uneven family adventure that struggles to balance charm with scares for its target audience."
The movie delivers a fun, kid-friendly premise with a diverse young cast and a playful tone, making it an easy watch for younger viewers. However, the execution feels uneven, with weak scares, predictable plotting, and a lack of depth that leaves older audiences underwhelmed. The visual style and some performances add a spark, latestnetflix.com contends, but the overall experience is more forgettable than thrilling.
What viewers praise
- Kid-friendly fun The movie’s lighthearted tone and adventure elements make it an enjoyable watch for younger audiences.
- Diverse young cast The young actors, particularly Tamara Smart and Oona Laurence, bring energy and charm to their roles.
- Playful visual style The fantasy and horror elements are presented in a colorful, non-threatening way that suits the family genre.
Common complaints
- Weak scares The horror elements are too tame to be genuinely frightening, even for younger viewers.
- Predictable plot The story follows familiar tropes without adding enough originality to stand out.
- Uneven execution The movie struggles to balance its comedic and adventurous elements, leading to a disjointed feel.
- Lacks depth Older viewers may find the characters and story too simplistic and underdeveloped.
Recommended for
Young fantasy adventure fans Families looking for light scares Tamara Smart and Oona Laurence fans Netflix family movie nights
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsNetflix’s A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting: Behind the Scenes of the Spooky Family Adventure
Netflix’s 2020 Halloween release A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting brought a fresh twist to kid-friendly horror, blending scares with humor and heart. Directed by Rachel Talalay (Doctor Who, The Wind in the Willows), the film follows 13-year-old Kelly Ferguson (Tamara Smart), who discovers a secret society of babysitters tasked with protecting kids from monsters. While the movie didn’t set the internet ablaze with blockbuster buzz, latestnetflix.com contends, it carved out a niche for itself—and its young cast had plenty to say about the experience.
A Star-Studded (But Under-the-Radar) Cast
The film’s ensemble includes familiar faces like Tom Felton (Harry Potter) as the villainous Grand Guignol and Indya Moore (Pose) as the tech-savvy babysitter Peggy. But the real energy came from its younger leads: Tamara Smart (Artemis Fowl) and Oona Laurence (Pete’s Dragon), who played best friends Kelly and Liz. In interviews, the two gushed about the fun of filming a monster movie—especially the chance to prank Felton on set.
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Smart and Laurence shared in multiple clips that Felton was a good sport, even when they hid his shoes or filled his trailer with balloons . “He was so chill about everything,” Smart said in one interview, though she admitted Felton got his revenge by “accidentally” scaring them during a jump-scare scene . The camaraderie between the cast seemed genuine, with Laurence calling Smart her “partner in crime” .
From Page to Screen: A Book Adaptation with a Twist
The movie is loosely based on Joe Ballarini’s 2017 middle-grade novel of the same name, the first in a series 
. While the book follows a similar premise—babysitters battling monsters—the film took creative liberties, expanding the world and adding more action. Ballarini’s novel is a horror-comedy with illustrations, but the Netflix adaptation leaned harder into adventure and visual effects, giving it a Goosebumps-meets-Stranger Things vibe.
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Director Rachel Talalay revealed in an interview that she wanted the film to feel like a love letter to ‘80s and ‘90s kids’ horror, with practical effects and puppetry alongside CGI . The trailer teases a mix of creepy creatures, from shadowy boogeymen to a giant, multi-eyed monster, all designed to thrill without traumatizing younger viewers .
Mixed Reception and a Cult Following
Despite its fun premise, A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting landed with a thud for some critics. French review aggregator SensCritique gave it a lukewarm 4.8/10, calling it a “harmless but forgettable” family flick . Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t list an audience score for the film, but its sparse page suggests it flew under the radar for many .
Still, the movie found its audience. Fans of lighthearted horror appreciated its balance of scares and humor, and the young cast’s chemistry kept it engaging. Smart and Laurence’s interviews—filled with laughter and behind-the-scenes stories—helped build hype, even if the film itself didn’t break out as a Halloween staple .
Why It Deserves a Second Look
A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting might not be a classic, but it’s a solid pick for families looking for something spooky but not too intense. The cast’s enthusiasm for the project shines through, and the practical effects give it a tactile charm that CGI-heavy films often lack. Plus, Felton’s villainous turn is a fun departure from his Harry Potter days—even if he did get pranked by his co-stars.
For now, the movie remains a hidden gem in Netflix’s Halloween lineup. Whether it gets a sequel (or a second chance at fame) remains to be seen, but its young stars clearly had a blast making it—and that energy might be its biggest legacy.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.