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83 reviews in total

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
The Mini-Me Anti-Christ, 8 July 2009

Author: thesar-2 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Though not a fan of Sam Rockwell, I was surprised when I saw his name in the credits in the opening of 'Joshua.' Heck, I wasn't even aware he was in 'Joshua' until I started the movie. So it goes without saying, I was watching the movie on the basis of the movie, not the leads. A sort of 'Rosemary's Baby,' 'The Omen' or any other demonic kid movie 'Joshua' was billed. Unfortunately, it fell flat. Slow, incredibly slow, and flat. Yet, I continued on to see how this would all resolve, hoping beyond belief, the ending climax would shed some light on the subject. Okay, I admit, it did (a wee bit) but what a stale closing. And what a low-low budget movie, or at least that's how they designed it. A person falls – you don't see the drop, you see someone lying down in what appears to be blood. A person gets hit by a cab – you don't see it, you see someone complaining, holding a bike up. I'm not sure if this is called "style" or laziness or simply, lack of funds for special effects. We have a "rich" family with a crazy mom, a workaholic father attempting to balance everything, a kid – Joshua, who may/may not be the antichrist and a new born baby girl who cries a lot. She cries as much as we see how many days she's alive – and what was that about? Are there rats above or is it Joshua? Is his mother nuts? Is Joshua crazy? Is he merely jealous of the newcomer to the family? Is he going to grow up to be Michael Myers? Or does he drive his family to the brink? I don't think so. They were nuts prior, and no "so-called" acting could make me believe otherwise. Unfortunately, barely any questions were answered, barely any open doors shut. I'm sure that might have been the idea, but for Pete's sake, give me something. Anything. There are plenty better kid-gone-wild movies to explore. Joshua's more like the Mini-Me of the antichrist.

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5 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Bad parents or bad kid or both. All creepy., 16 July 2007

Author: rbod from Washington, DC

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Throughout the film you never really know on whose side you belong. The parents seem to be caring but at the same time neglectful. The child is obviously weird. At the very beginning when Brad receives the call that Abby, his wife, is about to give birth he rushes out of Central Park with Josh in tow, crosses Central Park West to get a cab but leaves the boy behind on the parkside curb. Another instance of Brad's less than fully adult moves is his reaction to the news that his dog is dead. We, the audience, do not know that this was the nature of the phone call that causes him to flee the squash club, mid game, not changing his clothes and running through the streets like a madman, carrying his clothes with him steaming in the wind. One would have thought that full on death and destruction were afoot, a la 9/11, but his dog was dead. Sad, of course, but not the catastrophe he made of it. Abby is also rather distant. Pride keeps her from admitting that she needs help and she comes across as being self absorbed and self obsessed. Neither parent actually ever fully completes a transaction with their son. They never ask him how or why he feels the way he does or does the things he does. They show no interest in getting help for this boy, who clearly needs it. They are just furious with him without the loving balance of a competent parent, or even a competent adult. If you suspected that your son murdered your mother your first reaction would not be to send him to boarding school (very far way) ASAP. No one ever asks him why he killed gran. The movie is flawed, no doubt. Much is left unexplained and unsaid. A little too much, in my opinion. I wasn't sure how I felt about the film even when it became clear that Joshua had planned the outcome, i.e. the demise of his parents, and that he was indeed a bad seed (not that his parents were such bargains) What has given me pause more than anything else is the last scene when he sits with his uncle Ned (Dallas Roberts) and sings a real love song to him. A song that went on and on. It was shocking! I need to see this again, but it seems to me that Ned remained clueless. Clueless that Joshua was responsible for the situation, and clueless that Joshua was in love with him, or to be more PC, had a huge crush on him. This ultimately made me realize that this is truly a creepy film, which is not a bad thing and probably the only thing that gives it a reason to be considered worthwhile.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Oh My God, 14 February 2010

Author: gobanifar from United States

I cannot believe how good this movie was. I was riveted from the beginning. The blurb on the TV info compared it to Damien. I thought it was better. You must see this movie. The suspense builds slowly but completely. The actor who plays Joshua was very good. I wonder what he drew upon in his real life to make his character so believable. I often wonder that about young actors and actresses. Where do they get that feeling, like Patty McCormick in (can't remember the name) or McCauley Culkin (sp) in The Good Son. You are drawn in by how Joshua behaves. There are no spoilers in my review. Just watch the movie to see for yourself.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Unoriginal Idea Executed Averagely, 24 January 2010
Author: PhantomAgony from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I did not enjoy the film, Joshua, at all. Perhaps it is because I saw another, much better similar film titled Orphan 2 days prior but perhaps it's really just because this film was not very good. I am going with the ladder. Sure, the plot of an evil child is not exactly original but that doesn't mean the film could not succeed. It could have been suspenseful and entertaining and chilling but instead it was slow building, boring, uneventful and really didn't leave me thinking anything more than 'that wasn't very good' when it was all over.

At the end, Joshua's motivations are revealed. I won't give that away but the reality is that he didn't really accomplish his goals since despite Vera Farmiga as his mother, Abby, disappearing about 3/4th through the movie, all arrows point to her returning home soon. She was committed to a mental institution because she was losing her mind but then Joshua's Father/Her husband was accused of tampering with her medication which tells the audience that the institution realized that she was indeed not mentally ill but rather was being dosed medically. So.. shouldn't she be coming home soon? Won't Joshua have failed? Won't his Mother be living with him and his sister and possibly his Father soon? I question the Father since his future is left open ended.

At the end of the day, I didn't care about the characters. The evil demon child Joshua wasn't really scary. The storyline moved slowly and when it picked up it was still boring. Suspense fell flat every single time. When it was over I couldn't believe I had sat through the whole thing.

4/10 just because the acting was good from the parents especially Vera Farmiga as the Mother but if you want to see a movie about an evil 'child' go see Orphan. Now that's a movie that took an unoriginal concept and created a brilliant movie.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
So much better the SECOND time around, especially since ..., 20 February 2009

Author: Robert Lazlo (robert_edward@mail.com) from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I saw the whole movie this time! The first time I caught on Cinemax about 1/3 in ...

I very rarely post on IMDb but I was truly struck by some -- make that most -- of the subtle brilliance in this film -- I think the shock of this character (a child!) to our normal sensibilities (Joshua) renders an awkward defense mechanism that "pre-judges" everything that follows.

Huh? Well, the first time around I missed how horrible these parents were in regard to their lack of love or appreciation for their genius prodigy child! In no way does this make up for Joshua's later behavior--or, maybe it does to some degree?

Joshua has a mind that is self-aware and fully functioning at NINE years old--but he lacks experience--this occurs in the real world after all, we're not all 8th grade intellects ... that is the average.

I'm not going to say anymore except to say -- I believe this movie will be much better understood and appreciated over the years. Brilliant.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Depressing, strange, and answers no questions, 5 October 2008

Author: chevrette from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This movie is very mediocre.

The park beating scene was my favorite. I spent all movie wanting to hit this kid. I only wish he would've gotten beaten to death. That would've been a better ending than the one they chose.

I think the kid had a homosexual urge for his uncle. That is twisted. I only wish they would have clarified the uncle's role a bit. And perhaps picked a better actor in that role.

McKean's small part was pretty solid.

This is not something I would ever watch again, but I didn't want to clamor for my 2 hours back. However, you would think that in 2 hours they would not raise so many questions that leave you hanging.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Is Joshua really evil?, 7 August 2008

Author: Moviegoers00 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I give this movie a fair rating. A remake of the black and white film The Bad Seed. It was far from bad, but it wasn't amazing either. It's a fun film made for television that questions Joshua innocences.

**Major Spoilers ahead** After all, the camera constantly cuts away from any evil that Joshua supposedly has committed and none of the other characters actually witnesses Joshua committing an evil act. Unfortunately, the parents are unreliable characters/witnesses because A) The mother is suffering from PTSD or some mental disorder after having given birth. B) As for the child abuse, well the dad did "beat his kid in public on a weekend" in the park. But, this does not excuse the fact that Joshua is not innocent as well. He did play a prank on his poor mentally ill mother, he mummified his pet gerbil, he was a butt to his father in public on purpose, and his warped song at the end. There are a few other incidents, but you get the point. Anyways, the film is very ambiguous and leaves the viewers to conclude for themselves if Joshua is evil or not.

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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Joshua Is Nuts and Silly, 19 September 2010
Author: Chrysanthepop from Fraggle Rock

Ratliff's messy psychological thriller seems to have garnered quite some attention. Now there have been many movies centering around a sociopathic child. Most of them pretty much follow the same horror movie type formula where the child is terrorizing an entire family without them even noticing it. Unfortunately, 'Joshua' is no different. Firstly, the movie is filled with plot holes and unexplored questions. For example, why would Brad and Abby keep the video of Abby constantly crying when holding Joshua? Of course, not surprisingly, the psychologists and teachers are portrayed as caricature idiots (who think there's absolutely nothing wrong with this kid).

I was also surprised as how distant the parents were from Joshua in the beginning. Perhaps they knew something was off but stayed in denial. The parents too are portrayed as being stupid. They didn't even question Joshua giving all his toys away to charity and disemboweling his teddy bear. Some responses towards this movie are quite disturbing. One reviewer even wrote that he found himself vouching for the kid.

I wish there would be a movie that would at least do justice to the themes of a child sociopath rather than rely on clichés. Even the unexplored ending is very easily predictable and dissatisfying. The only non-clichéd angel is that director Ratliff refrained from using blood and gore but that doesn't make this a better movie. He tries to make it creepy by using typical shock tactics but they feel out of place. The so-called 'twists' are quite convenient. The behaviour of most of the characters is irrational.

The only plus point of 'Joshua' are the performances. Both Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga are very good in spite of having to play poorly written characters. I really wonder why they chose to act in this. Jacob Kogan plays it by the formula. Celia Weston is adequate even though her character is conveniently annoying as hell.

Overall, this is just trying to be a 'smarter' version of 'The Omen'. Other than Rockwell and Farmiga's performance, there's nothing going for it. Not even the slow pace.

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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Engagingly creepy, 1 August 2010

Author: Bill Shroyer from United States

Speaking as someone who through no fault of his own was just about as strange as Joshua in this movie, I have to say this kid actor really got the part perfect. Even as a child younger than Joshua, I used to wonder how adults could seriously believe I and those my age were somehow "innocent", how easily they could all be "played" against one another if that's what you felt like doing.

I grew up somewhere along the way, and while it wasn't for lack of trying, I managed to make it without killing anyone. The kid I was - the kid Joshua is in the movie - is one of the primary reasons I'm too terrified to have kids. Seriously - when you get a smart one like that with a chip on his shoulder, it's just not safe.

If you want a reason to avoid parenthood, this is a good movie to watch. If you ever wondered just how sadistic and malicious a little kid can be, and how truly dangerous, this movie is spot-on. Oh sure, most kids could never be like Joshua, but then Joshua - and I - were never like "most kids". Seriously.

The pace is rather slow and it takes awhile before you really get to see Joshua for what he is, but once it gets there & Joshua begins taking off the kid gloves, and especially after the park beating with his father and you see them packing his things away, you realize just how terrified his parents should have been all along. Pay attention to the things they pack away, very closely. The creepy thing is how sickeningly sweet Joshua plays his role the entire time, even after you've figured him all out. He's not so blatant about his hostility, you can only really tell what he really feels by what he does, not by how he acts or what he says.

Definitely recommended for those who like "spawn of Satan" type "evil kid" flicks, though only if you don't mind a slightly slow pace and not all that much gore or actual brutality.

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3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Problem Child, 7 November 2009

Author: JoeytheBrit from www.moviemoviesite.com

With very little foreknowledge, I tuned into this movie expecting some kind of kid-possessed-by demon Exorcist/Damien rip-off, but although the film tells of a kid from hell there is no supernatural element to it. I was initially quite surprised by how well-written the screenplay was, although the plot loses some of its impetus half-way through as the writer is forced to create progressively unlikely incidents in order to build upon the tension he has already created.

Joshua is a strange boy, bordering on genius, who likes nothing more than pulling the stuffing from his toy panda's nose in emulation of the Ancient Egyptian's method of preparing dead bodies for embalming. He's also pretty good at copying Dad's grief when he mourns over the dead body of the old family dog (who Joshua may or may not have offed while walking in the park). Joshua knows he's weird, and you sense he's frightened that his parents don't love him – or at least won't love him as much now that a baby sister has arrived in the scene. Sneaking a peek at videos of his constant wailing as a baby also does nothing for his frame of mind, and it's not long before he's sneaking in to little sis's room to make her cry the way he used to.

All these scenes are intelligently scripted and handled – as is Joshua's unique piano recital – fooling you into believing you're in for something really special but, while the film is still impressive (and far better than much of the stuff coming out of Hollywood these days), the plot developments become increasingly predictable, while the aim of Joshua's quiet campaign of terror on his parents is something of a mystery initially, and a little far-fetched when revealed in the final scene (which, naturally, leaves the way open for a sequel).

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