Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 30 Ratings

  • Starring: Jacob Kogan, Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga
  • Summary: 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 Search
    light Pictures) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 25
  2. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. Reviewed by: Duane Byrge
    100
    Superbly crafted psychological thriller.
  2. Poised self-consciously between art and entertainment, Joshua offers imaginative staging and some superb performances.
  3. 80
    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.
  4. 58
    It's regrettable that Joshua veers into outlandish "Omen/Bad Seed/Good Son" territory when the real terror lies much closer to home.

See all 25 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 12
  2. Negative: 5 out of 12
  1. Jason
    10
    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. Expand
  2. hughie
    8
    Well constructed and well acted.It does require intelligence and patience from the viewer however!
  3. DanielW
    7
    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. Expand
  4. DWilly
    3
    The metacriitic amateur reviewers have this turkey pegged for the disappointment it is as the professionals once again overrate an unscarey movie for how they wish it would have been (see 1408, no wait, don't see it, it stinks!). The boy is kept in a buttoned up shirt, often with a tie, ewwww... but, as a robot without motivation of any kind, he's a total bore. Vera Farmiga fails to be compelling before she disappears into a looney bin halfway through, and this leaves the movie in the incapable hands of Sam Rockwell, good at smirking, but a leading man he is not. Expand

See all 12 User Reviews

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