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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Joshua
Fox Searchlight Pictures


4.8

based on 25 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 21 votes
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MPAA 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)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	George Ratliff David Gilbert
DIRECTED BY:	George Ratliff
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 8, 2008 Theatrical: July 6, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	90 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

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...

100

The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge

Superbly crafted psychological thriller.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Variety Todd McCarthy

A creepy-little-kid suspenser decked out with sufficient class to lend it a certain distinction.

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

Poised self-consciously between art and entertainment, Joshua offers imaginative staging and some superb performances.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It should be mandatory viewing for right-to-lifers and prospective parents as well as fans of creepy, crawly filmmaking.

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.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Terrifically sneaky psychological thriller, which takes great pleasure in watching carefully constructed family values come tumbling down.

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."

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

First-time director and co-writer George Ratliff skirts, but never quite crosses, the line into absurdity.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

One of the most diabolical things about this psychological thriller is just how open to interpretation it is.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

Creepy, cool and loaded with style.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A painfully slow psychological thriller.

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.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

The line between eeriness and tedium is fatally fluid.

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.

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.

The average user rating for this movie is 4.8 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Matt R gave it a0:
This movie was worse than Gus Van Sants' Gerry. Anyone who considers this kind of crap art needs to put down their macbook and starbucks and step into a museum.

James M. gave it a10:
Beautiful cinematography and overall one of the better movies of the year imo. And to all those who are crucifying this movie for having a flawed main character; a flawed character doesn't mean a flawed movie or plot (go read any Greek tragedy you under-cultured C.H.U.D.s) I'm not undervaluing the opinion of those who didn't think this movie was fabulous, but please find a better reason to dislike it than, 'the main character was a jerk to his family'...

benjamin d gave it a10:
Never before has a film touched on so many levels; in particular man's journey through young adulthood. Sean Penn's ability to capture raw emotion and transcend it through seemingly "real-life" experiene has left me breathless. For anyone who wants to take a journey which may help re-define your own life, you must see this film:) Thank you to all who played a part in the making of this masterpiece.

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!

DWilly gave it a3:
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.

Joshua Fox Searchlight Pictures

Joshua
Fox Searchlight Pictures