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Movies / On DVD / Joshua
Joshua

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Joshua (2007)

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Reviews Counted:95

Fresh:59

Rotten:36

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Though Joshua is ultimately too formulaic, its intelligence and suspenseful buildup heighten the overall creep factor.

Rated: R

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:2007

Box Office: $442,201

Synopsis: Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby Cairn (Vera Farmiga) seem to have it all. A successful Manhattan couple living in a plush uptown apartment, they have just welcomed their second child into the... Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby Cairn (Vera Farmiga) seem to have it all. A successful Manhattan couple living in a plush uptown apartment, they have just welcomed their second child into the family--a lovely little girl named Lily. Everything should be golden for the happy family, but their little boy--the nine-year-old Joshua (Jacob Kogan)--is less than pleased with the latest addition to the family. An intelligent but odd little boy, Joshua's lack of humor and preoccupation with death belie his tender age, and as the parents coo over Lily, it becomes clear that they are not quite sure what to make of their stone-faced son. When Lily suddenly turns from a quiet baby into one who mysteriously begins wailing day and night, the Cairns' ordered life quickly disintegrates. The lack of sleep and stress takes a heavy toll on the mentally fragile Abby, and Brad begins racing around the city trying to care for his newborn daughter, ailing wife, and emotionally disturbed son. The family stress mounts, and when small animals and the family dog turn up dead, it doesn't take long before fingers begin pointing at the brooding and bizarre Joshua. Vera Farmiga delivers a realistic and disturbing performance as someone tottering at the edge of emotional collapse, and Sam Rockwell is a true pleasure to watch in his turn as a father desperately trying to hold his life together. Using a slow, teasing pace and claustrophobic camera angles, the film strives for a Hitchockian level of suspense while also delivering many topnotch performances. [More]

Starring: Jacob Kogan, Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston

Starring: Jacob Kogan, Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean

Director: George Ratliff

Director: George Ratliff
Screenwriter: George Ratliff, David Gilbert
Producer: Johnathan Dorfman
Composer: Nico Muhly
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Release:

Sep 15, 2009

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Reviews for Joshua

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[W]hy is it so hard to make a scary flick about evil kids these days? The Omen remake was pretty hilarious, and Joshua is ridiculous, though they are apparently attempting to re-position it as a "black comedy"

Full Review Source: New Times | comment 2 Comments
06/30/07
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times

Perhaps the scariest thing about Joshua was the feeling I got at the end that I had just sat through some kind of weird gay panic movie.

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment 1 Comment
07/05/07
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD

Builds to a number of gripping climaxes that leave the viewer quite shaken by how subtly and effectively this movie delivers on the thrills.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment 1 Comment
01/22/07
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

A twisty, chilly vision of haute-yuppie parenting as unrelenting nightmare, an ingenious reworking of the demon-seed genre in which the evil child is not the real villain.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
07/05/07
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Supremely assured ... a creepily black comedy that eschews huge campy shocks in favor of a bunch of little nonchalant stings that add up to something fierce.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
07/11/07
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Harrowing, controlled and diabolically self-assured, Joshua leaves filmgoers teetering on their own emotional precipice, wondering just where pathos ends and pathology begins.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
07/12/07
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

The film is the ultimate birth control. If you plan on one day having kids, don't see this film. If you already have children, you will never look at them the same way again.

Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com

Joshua is a psychological thriller so devoid of value, it makes one wonder if someone in the acquisition department at Fox Searchlight doesn't have a drinking problem.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/11/07
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
eFilmCritic.com

While Ratliff deserves credit for trying to use real demons - postpartum depression, child abuse - as elements of horror, Joshua fails to thrill because it never feels remotely realistic.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
07/07/07
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
UGO

Sickeningly creepy.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
07/13/07
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Clever performances and great atmospherics compensate for the gaps in logic.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
07/05/07
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ultimately predictable.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/05/07
Chris Cabin
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

It's subtle and it's terrific.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
07/19/07
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

At once familiar and yet startlingly inventive and thrilling.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
07/13/07
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A tense, visually interesting tale that is ultimately a bit barren.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
07/06/07
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

There's a definite "Bad Seed" vibe going on in this sophisticated psychological thriller that unfolds with such precision you'll want to see it a second time just to catch its many degrees of nuanced escalation.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
07/17/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

The contrived script expects us to believe that Joshua's fainting spells, his nocturnal home videos of his sleeping family and his acts of violence on crowded New York City streets fail to raise suspicion until it is too late.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
07/19/07
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Despite such creepy moments, the film's fundamental narrative is more wearying than horrifying.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
07/06/07
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Watch this movie on a night when you don't think you need birth control.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/18/07
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
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