The first clues that something is not quite right are in the kitchen: shelves full of oatmeal, tomato sauce and honey; a hidden dumb waiter with a nest of tiny, stolen treasures. The three Grace children have heard the stories about the old house their mother has brought them to live in, the old scientist who disappeared, his daughter who ended up in a mental institution, but salt around the window sills? What does it all mean? The first night in the creepy old Victorian gets weirder and weirder. Soon they will find themselves in the battle of their lives, enlisting creatures never even imagined, waging war against even scarier ones, stretching time and imagination.
Based loosely on the series of best-selling books, The Spiderwick Chronicles is full of action and adventure, a fantastical story of family and fairies, love and loss: all the best elements of a children’s story. The scenes are chock full of detail, like illustrations from the best children’s books brought to life. While appropriate to the battle scenes, there is some violence, and the thrill level may be too dark and intense for young children.
Recommended Special Features: It’s A Spiderwick World, a segment with Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, authors and co-creators of the film, walking the film set and talking about the actual letter they received from children who claim to have lived in the creature-filled house in Maine that inspired the story. This is especially interesting for viewers who plan to read the books. There is also a special field guide that must be enabled prior to watching the film, whereby a when the guidebook icon appears, viewers can be redirected to a page of Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide for detailed information about the creature at hand before returning to the story.
Recommended for children ages 8-13. Parents found much of the content particularly disturbing for children under 6.