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Movies / Upcoming / Gardens of the Night
Gardens of the Night

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Gardens of the Night (2008)

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Reviews Counted:14

Fresh:7

Rotten:7

Average Rating:5.9/10

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Leslie (Gillian Jacobs), struggles with a hand to mouth existence on the streets of San Diego with only her childhood friend Donnie (Evan Ross) to look after her, both of them trying to cope with... Leslie (Gillian Jacobs), struggles with a hand to mouth existence on the streets of San Diego with only her childhood friend Donnie (Evan Ross) to look after her, both of them trying to cope with the trauma of having been abducted and held captive by two men nine years earlier. As an eight-year-old girl, Leslie (Ryan Simpkins) was abducted through trickery by an older man Alex (Tom Arnold), and his young accomplice Frank (Kevin Zegers). Leslie was held captive in their house along with an eight-year-old boy named Donnie, who believed his mentally unstable mother, sold him to Alex. The children create a bond with each other managing to escape into a fantasy world they create in their bedroom. Years later Leslie and Donnie, now seventeen years old, are living as street-kids and struggling to cope with what they suffered through, having been affected by the experience differently. Donnie’s feelings for Leslie are those of any teenager in love, however Leslie's perception of love has been severely mutated through her relationship with Alex and her instinct is to run from Donnie. Can she not only survive this horrific experience, but be set free from it's terrible shackles? --© Official Site [More]

Starring: Gillian Jacobs, Tom Arnold, John Malkovich, Harold Perrineau

Starring: Gillian Jacobs, Tom Arnold, John Malkovich, Harold Perrineau

Director: Damian Harris

Director: Damian Harris
Screenwriter: Damian Harris

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Reviews for Gardens of the Night

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1 - 13 (sorted by date)
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Gardens doesn't always hit its desired mark of profundity. It's a wobbly plunge into grotesque acts of inhuman violation, with the patchy acting often blocking the true horror on display.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
04/30/09
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
DVDTalk.com

Do these heartbreaking stories exist in the real world? Yes, yes, they do. Does dramatizing these stories with nothing to add except a certain cruel wallowing in the existence of unspeakable human depravity serve any real purpose? No, no, it does not.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment 4 Comments
12/05/08
Mark Olsen
Mark Olsen
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

"Gardens of the Night" is a powerful and provoking film about a disturbing and all too real subject. There's a bitterness here that will not go away.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
11/10/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

The tendency to exploit lurid material for dramatic purposes is something [director Harris] can't avoid.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment 1 Comment
11/07/08
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Cinematical

Writer-director Jared Harris (and actor and son of the late Richard Harris) claims to have spent 10 years researching this sordid milieu, yet, for all the detail, it ends up playing like an especially lurid '80s TV movie.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment 1 Comment
11/07/08
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gardens of the Night is a harrowing story of kidnapping and forced child prostitution that conjures a world entirely populated by predators and prey.

comment Comment
11/07/08
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Good acting and sincere direction by Damian Harris act as beacons to light the haunting corridors of an underworld spook house.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
11/05/08
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ferociously queasy-making for its first half before flatlining into banality.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
11/05/08
Stephen Garrett
Stephen Garrett
Time Out New York

A haunting tale which very convincingly conveys the overwhelming sense of helplessness and dread which undoubtedly afflicts impressionable souls unfortunate enough to be sexually exploited while still in the bloom of youth.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
11/05/08
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze

The film never quite recovers from writer-director Damian Harris's dithering way of shooting things.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment 1 Comment
11/05/08
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tom Arnold turns in a solid performance as a "nice guy" who abducts children.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
11/04/08
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Film Journal International

An impressive directorial debut.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment 1 Comment
11/04/08
Richard Mowe
Richard Mowe
Boxoffice Magazine

Gardens of the Night leaves me wondering if it is finally possible to make a non-exploitative portrait of sexual abuse.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
11/03/08
Andrew Schenker
Andrew Schenker
Slant Magazine
 
 
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March 22, 2009: A profoundly disturbing, super-realistic examination of pedophilia not to be screened on an empty stomach. Opens in new window
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