Starring Milena Smit, Jaime Lorente, Anastasia Russo, Carlos González Morollón

Written & Directed by Rubin Stein

Still traumatised by her miscarriage, Lola and her husband Adolfo adopt two devout orphans from the local convent – but are they as angelic as they appear?

Damien, Regan, the Children of the Corn, the Midwich Cuckoos – who doesn’t love a sweet looking junior possessed by malevolent forces? And that’s without even talking about Kevin.

As Spanish chiller, Tin&Tina kicks into gear, you could be forgiven for assuming you know exactly where this latest addition to the Evil Kid canon is going. After losing her baby on her wedding day, Lola (Milena Smit) is told she can’t have children, and so, when she rather unwisely leaps into adopting an unfailingly affectionate, dazzlingly blond, eternally smiling brother and sister from an ultra-orthodox catholic orphanage, you are tempted to sit back and enjoy the inevitable devilry that surely must ensue.

But Rubin Stein’s movie is cleverer than that. There are certainly nods to the rest of the genre – Midwich haircuts for the children, and Mia Farrow’s Rosemary’s Baby pixie-crop for the tormented mother – but Tin and Tina never show their fangs. Their Christian faith is devout and unshakably sincere. So who needs the devil when you’ve got two innocents pursuing Biblical text to the literal and murderous letter?

There are no cheesy jump scares; the terrifying logic of Tin and Tina’s orthodoxy is unsettling enough. While Rubin Stein may have a satirical wink in his cinematic eye, he is asking serious questions, setting the action in 1981 with Spain still uncertainly emerging from four decades of fascist dictatorship – a dictatorship heartily endorsed by the country’s catholic hierarchy. If people are drilled into unquestioning belief and obedience, the film asks, who is ultimately responsible for the evil that results?

Child actors Anastasia Russo and Carlos González Morollón are extremely well directed by Stein. The chilling, unstoppable momentum of their convictions is never in doubt.

Verdict: Tin&Tina isn’t the most frightening movie you’ll ever see, but it’s intelligent, witty and confidently told, and when these near identical siblings invite you to come and play with them, you probably ought to join in. 8/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com