Before Adopted even has its credits, ten-year-old Dylan (Jayden Aguirre) has already killed his foster family, a fact that no one believes except for Detective Dante Miller (co-writer Marques Houston). The story that he tells about a killer biker who came into their home seems a bit too wild. Yet, who can not believe a child? Indeed, all kids are innocent.
Nope. Get ready for a Chris Stokes take on The Bad Seed, but instead of killing another child over a handwriting contest, people of all ages get killed.
Carrie (Drew Sidora) and James (Daniel J. Johnson) have always wanted a family but can’t. Luckily — well, you know — they are able to adopt Dylan immediately and never learn that his past family died. He’s the perfect kid and even calls them mom and dad on his first day in the house. But in just minutes, Dylan and Ryan (Jahlil Muhammad) — the nephew of next-door neighbor Diane (Shalet Monique) — are playing with a real gun and faking deaths. He also gets way too into Melissa (Victoria Nuckles), who is much older than him, but Dylan is already coming on to her, and when she tells him that she has a boyfriend, he shoots both her and her mother, Diane.
Somehow, Carrie and Jamescano adopt a second child, Bella (Livy Neachell), days after Ryan kills himself mysteriously. Bella might be just as bad as Dylan, but he’s all for killing her before we find out by drowning her in a pool.
Dylan is my favorite Tubi villain now because he’s risen above being verbally abused by his mother and physically attacked by his father — his legs have been scarred and burned from being doused with boiling water — to turn the tables on everyone else, shifting from being a good little boy to suddenly questioning his parents’ abilities ranging from being able to raise him to even calling Carrie’s cooking out by telling her that he’s never had chicken this dry before. It’s incredible how good he is at being the worst child ever.
The end of this movie is something. I’m not going to spoil it for you—Tubi has already teased a sequel—but I didn’t see it coming. Moms will be thrown down the steps, fathers will be attacked, and police will be called. It’s really got the most “woah” cut to credits I’ve seen in some time, as well as a square-up reel PSA before the credits.
This may be the best Chris Stokes movie ever.
You can watch this on Tubi.