It's subtle and it's terrific.
Joshua (2007)
Tomatometer
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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.
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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Reviews for Joshua
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.
Watch this movie on a night when you don't think you need birth control.
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.
I'm reluctant to give away too much about this terrifically tidy thriller as I think an audience should be able to watch a film without knowing the twists and surprises that the filmmakers intend.
A trippy film that falls somewhere between tired genre picture, hilarious satire and ingenious game of cat-and-mouse.
Director George Ratliff has crafted a pretty intelligent film that exploits that conceit without going to the over-the-top extremes as such other bad-seed films as "The Good Son" and, well, "The Bad Seed."
Ratliff's movie almost succeeds in hurtling over the trenches it digs for itself in an increasingly ludicrous third act. But not quite.
Spooky, relatively realistic, grounded in psychology rather than displays of gore, it could be just the thing to rejuvenate the fading horror genre.
If you've never wanted to punch a child in the face, see Joshua and discover a whole new side of yourself.
A darkly comic, squirm-inducing portrait of everyday familial dysfunction amplified by an unusual element.
A fascinating, if chilling, break from the season's usual summer movie thrills -- especially for parents-to-be.
Writer-director George Ratliff may have intended to make a movie no one would enjoy. He's succeeded.
An unnerving thriller that has a lot more on its maniacal mind than giving us the willies.
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Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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