Godsend

Name: Godsend
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Horror
Released: April 30, 2004
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 24
Cast: Cameron Bright, Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn, Robert De Niro

2004

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 52 Ratings

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6.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 52 Ratings

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Godsend

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Movie Details & Credits

Lions Gate Films | Release Date: April 30, 2004 | PG-13

Starring: Cameron Bright, Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn, Robert De Niro

Summary: Paul and Jessie Duncan (Kinnear, Romijn-Stamos) have lost their beloved eight year-old son Adam (Bright) in a tragic accident. As they are arranging for his burial, Dr. Richard Wells (De Niro) approaches with the incredible offer to clone, and bring back their boy. (Lions Gate Films)

Director: Nick Hamm

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Horror

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 102 min

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Critic Reviews

Owen Gleiberman

The umpteenth recycled shocker about a mystical dark child with an aura of disaster. Read full review

Chris Kaltenbach

Godsend is two-thirds of a good movie, with a final third that's just downright awful. So much wasted potential only makes the whole thing that much more painful. Read full review

Pete Vonder Haar

When is a horror movie not a horror movie? When it’s a strained, by-the-numbers production that limps to an unlikely conclusion like Godsend. Read full review

Michael O'Sullivan

As the film's boo! moments get spookier and more frequent, Godsend gets more and more inane. Read full review

Rene Rodriguez

An unsatisfying, overly restrained bore, capped off by an ending so strange and inconclusive, it feels like something you'd find on the ''deleted scenes'' portion of a DVD. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

In Godsend, we have the spectacle of three good actors tied to the mast of a sinking premise. Read full review

David Edelstein

Turns into a pea-brained hodgepodge of "The Omen" (1976), "The Sixth Sense" (1999), and about 30 Grade-Z Bela Lugosi mad-scientist movies. Read full review

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User Reviews

FelixQ.

Jul 25, 2006

For the most part, not terrible. It's a fair, if not wholely unique concept, and terrifically cast. It's not as bad as it's painted, it's really quite passable- a mid level thriller with the creepiest (I mean that in a good way!) child actor ever. I would've given For the most part, not terrible. It's a fair, if not wholely unique concept, and terrifically cast. It's not as bad as it's painted, it's really quite passable- a mid level thriller with the creepiest (I mean that in a good way!) child actor ever. I would've given it an 8, but really I expected more from the ending. As I said, the concept itself is intriguing if slightly over-used, but a great ending would've pulled this whole thing up.… Expand

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FilipeNeto

Apr 10, 2021

In this film, a couple sees their happiness shattered by the sudden death of their only child after an accident. It is then that a doctor appears who suggests using genetics to return the lost child to them by creating a clone. It would be a risky, highly secretive and ethically questionableIn this film, a couple sees their happiness shattered by the sudden death of their only child after an accident. It is then that a doctor appears who suggests using genetics to return the lost child to them by creating a clone. It would be a risky, highly secretive and ethically questionable experience, but they accept and change their entire lives. Things are going well, until the day the child begins to behave frighteningly and disturbingly to his parents.

Honestly, this film reminded me a little "Sixth Sense", inasmuch as it is a film that looks incredible from the first time we see it but starts to become uninteresting with each new viewing, while still being quite good at the difficult task to entertain its audience. Both films also tend to be considered horror, but I cannot see them as such. Nick Hamm is effective in tackling a controversial topic and painting it in sinister colors, creating a story worthy of a nightmare, but he doesn't know how to build the necessary tension to make the film efficient as a thriller, nor is he capable of making us feel afraid. The building of the characters is very rudimentary, and I did not feel real empathy for any of them in particular.

The cast is small and is absolutely dominated by De Niro, Kinnear and Romijn. Robert De Niro is good at the role of the doctor and leaves an extraordinarily calm job for an actor who seems to have an appetite for outgoing and strong characters. Even so, and perhaps for that reason, I couldn't help feeling that the actor was not entirely at ease with the character. Kinnear and Romijn present us with an intense collaboration. As far as I can tell, there are very few scenes where they are truly separated. Despite this close collaboration and the way their characters seem to be umbilical linked, chemistry as a romantic couple is nil. Cameron Bright, who brought young Adam to life, did a very calm job and fulfilled his role very well.

Technically, it is a standard film. Cinematography does not present anything particular, doing its job discreetly. The sets and costumes are good, with the medical clinic worthy of mention for the modern aspect and white tones, suggesting cleanliness and science, but also the classic hospital environment. Another set that deserves a positive note is the Catholic school, an old and decadent building where everything seems to lead us to the land of the classic horror of a haunted house. The soundtrack is effective, but totally forgettable.… Expand

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Deluge

Sep 18, 2005

Godsend is a terrible thriller. It's not worth watching in theaters, not worth renting it on DVD not even worth watching it on channel 45 if it airs on tv.

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