Michelle Dockery is underrated. And that’s not really her fault. After all her, Mary Crawley is a big reason the niche “Downton Abbey” franchise is beloved as it winds down. She’s a total package of an actor.

But even she can’t hold up “Please Don’t Feed The Children”.

The film involves a viral outbreak carried by children that has killed a large amount of the adult population. After a group of children botch a convenience store robbery, they end up at the doorstep of Clara (Dockery). Clara is crazy and as the children try to steal her car, they discover they’ve been drugged and are then held captive in her large home.

Our problem here is that besides Dockery, the film has nothing going for it. The young characters are dreadfully unlikable. So much so that we sympathize with Clara for much of the movie. We can’t care about these characters. We don’t get enough background on the viral outbreak, so we’re not sure what those rules are. And it feels like we’re just wandering around waiting for this confusion to resolve itself. Director Destra Allyn Spielberg (yep, that Spielberg) throws a box of puzzle pieces on the floor and wants us to put it together.

Dockery does what she can with the very little she’s given. Giancarlo Esposito is okay in chip-in duty. And that’s really about it on the positive side.

The only true selling points for the average movie goer is that the film isn’t a big ask, considering it’s a Tubi exclusive, which means you can watch it for free, and at almost exactly an hour and a half it breezes by fairly quickly.

I think Dockery fans like myself will forget about this one and look to the grand finale of ‘Downton’ later this year and hopes she’s given some better roles that will lead to another channel of success.

Please Don’t Feed The Children:

GRADE: D

What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments.