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Joshua
EMAILPRINTFox Searchlight Pictures
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 23 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
George Ratliff
David Gilbert
Directed by: George Ratliff
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 6, 2007
DVD: January 8, 2008
Running Time: 90 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language and some disturbing behavior by a child
Starring Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean, Jacob Kogan, Nancy Giles, and Linda Larkin
Joshua is the tale of Brad and Abby Cairn, perfect Manhattan parents in a perfect Manhattan apartment whose perfect life begins to crack after the birth of their second child Lily. Shortly after Lily arrives home, a dark side of prodigy son Joshua slowly begins to reveal itself. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Joshua does grow a bit repetitious (it lacks the cathartic climaxes of a horror film), yet it has cool and savvy fun with your fears.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Gianni Truzzi
Director George Ratliff plays pitch-perfect on the tautly wound strings of our innermost fears that nothing -- not love, wealth or intelligence -- can protect us from the monsters we harbor.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
There's drama here, and moments of genuine tension, but there's fun, too, which is the point of a movie like this. To Ratliff's credit, he never lets the considerable craft get in the way.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Only viewers with some appreciation for the odd, bloodless character of moneyed family life in New York will really understand how hilarious and deadly accurate this movie is. But then again, New York parents are the last people who will want to see it.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
A creepy-little-kid suspenser decked out with sufficient class to lend it a certain distinction.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis
Poised self-consciously between art and entertainment, Joshua offers imaginative staging and some superb performances.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
It should be mandatory viewing for right-to-lifers and prospective parents as well as fans of creepy, crawly filmmaking.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
To lump in this smart, subtle, deviously effective thriller with "The Omen" or "The Good Son" is neither fair nor entirely accurate.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Terrifically sneaky psychological thriller, which takes great pleasure in watching carefully constructed family values come tumbling down.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Joshua falls a bit flat at the end, but overall it delivers some genuine old-school chills - something that was missing when Macaulay Culkin played a similar role in "The Good Son."
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
First-time director and co-writer George Ratliff skirts, but never quite crosses, the line into absurdity.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
One of the most diabolical things about this psychological thriller is just how open to interpretation it is.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Harrowing, controlled and diabolically self-assured, Joshua leaves filmgoers teetering on their own emotional precipice, wondering just where pathos ends and pathology begins.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
A nifty psychological thriller--part "Bad Seed," part "Rosemary's Baby"--that deals in a manner both comic and creepy with the parental anxieties of a Manhattan haute yuppie family.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Part of the fun of Joshua is the skill with which Ratliff juggles horror and realism, feeding one into the other until we become part of the unraveling of the Cairns' perfect life.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Jamie Tipps
Even though the story covers familiar ground, it provides enough tension and humor in the presentation to make it worth watching
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
Seductive and creepy, perfect for a hot summer night when nobody has the energy to pose a lot of questions.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Ratliff fails to deliver on any of these ideas and the ending falters badly, but as horror flicks go this is both smart and suspenseful.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
It's regrettable that Joshua veers into outlandish "Omen/Bad Seed/Good Son" territory when the real terror lies much closer to home.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
The line between eeriness and tedium is fatally fluid.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
So what's wrong with Joshua? Two things: The audience is ahead of the movie, and the movie never catches up.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Joshua is the sort of movie in which nobody does what you would do: like spank or demand an extra-strength time out.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jason gave it a10:
After a single viewing, 8 out of 10. given my perspective after a second look, and thought about this film, l consider it an unmitigated masterpiece. while the title character seems at first like a demon, it is soon clear that demons surround him. I am grateful to the filmmakers for the introspection this film gave me.
Michael L. gave it a9:
Maybe you need to be a New Yorker to appreciate this subversive, creepy homage to Hitchcockian subtlety. An indictment of self-involved yuppie parents, the film examines a typical, dysfunctional monied Manhattan family and creates an ambiguous game of "who's the real psychotic?" that plays brilliantly to city dwellers whose line between sanity and paranoia is crossed daily. More of a morality tale about the results of Narcissistic parenting than a "Bad Seed" rip-off (thank God), this is a smart, scary, disturbing little gem filled with terrific performances (Vera Farmiga is brilliant as the medicated mommy, Sam Rockwell is the perfect parody of self-satisfied smarminess) is only for the thinking-person. All others should watch "The Good Son" on DVD...
Chad S. gave it a6:
Ned(Dallas Roberts) knows that mental illness runs in his family, but he stands up for Joshua(Jacob Kogan) after Brad(Sam Rockwell) accuses his son of a vicious attack on a loved one. Abby(Vera Farmiga) has a chemical imbalance, so it would be reasonable to believe that Joshua inherited the family curse. The mother's sociopathical behavior almost steals the spotlight from her son. "Joshua" is like "Carrie" in this respect. To bolster his story, Sam should've impressed upon his brother-in-law the incident at Joshua's school and the fate of the family pet. For much of its running time, "Joshua" is a taut psychological drama that never goes overboard by presenting its titular character as being possessed by a demonic spirit. With great subtlety, the movie suggests that the mother may possibly be culpable for a lot of Joshua's problems. Family secrets are kept off-screen. But the movie loses its credibility with me when Brad doesn't emit a sense of revulsion against Joshua if he believes his boy to be a cold-blooded murderer. We also miss Abby, since Farmiga delivers the film's best performance. What's interesting about "Joshua" is our mixed feelings towards the boy. How can he be a pure villian if his parents don't truly love him?
hello you gave it a10:
Give it a 10 only to offset some of these very low scores some of the unintelligent viewers have given. Without those I'd give the film about a 7. When you hear a movie about a kid that kills people and outsmarts adults; it's easy to scoff at it due to how ridiculous that sounds. However this movie pulls it off with ease by being ambigious with the character of Joshua. You feel sorry for him yet are also repelled by him through characters like Brad, played excellently by Sam Rockwell. He's a man trying to keep his family together but failing miserably due to a newborn, a looney wife off her meds, and a son that feels neglected. The brother of the wife spends a lot of time with Joshua and the boy ends up seeing this man as a father figure rather than his own dad. Joshua wants his dad to neglect him in a sense; "You don't have to love me". It is never clear whether Joshua is the cause of the death around him, orchestrating the demise of his father and the destruction of his not so happy family. The end scene, after Joshua has pulled off his plan, where he sings to the brother is probably the creepiest scene in ANY movie I have ever watched. It sent chills up my body and that can be greatly attested to the actor's (Joshua)performance.
Mikey O. gave it a1:
Don't bother with this movie! Some of the performances are okay, but nothing can overcome a bad script! This film is poorly plotted, uninvolving, and just plain stupid. I saw this dud in a movie theater with exactly three other audience members (a hit it's not), and we all groaned when it was over. If you're looking for a good psychological thriller, you're out of luck--this movie was a huge disappointment. I've seen better movies on "Lifetime"!
Daniel W gave it a7:
Anyone who has had children will get cold sweats from the movie's first act. The anxiety-ridden nights in which even silence seems ominous, the fear that there is somehow something "wrong" with a baby who just will not stop crying, and the growing suspicion that one will simply not be up to the task -- it's all rendered here in pitch-perfect manner. Unfortunately, a movie cannot survive on mere ambiance, and so the filmmakers introduce a plot that often leads them into absurdity. But they create some genuine flesh-crawling moments along the way.
hughie gave it an8:
Well constructed and well acted.It does require intelligence and patience from the viewer however!
