Gardens of the Night Reviews

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 | Original Score: C

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 | Original Score: 2/5

"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 | Original Score: B+

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

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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 | Original Score: 1.5/4

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

| Original Score: 3.5/5

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

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

Full Review | Original Score: 3/6

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 | Original Score: 4/4

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

Full Review

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

Full Review | Original Score: B

An impressive directorial debut.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

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

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5