Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn, Robert De Niro

While it preys on the emotions of grieving parents, Godsend serves up a few minor shocks in an otherwise frightless supernatural thriller. Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos are the once-ha...( read more  read more... )ppy couple whose 8-year-old son (Cameron Bright) has been struck and killed by a car. When a fertility and genetics expert (Robert De Niro) offers them an opportunity to resurrect their boy through a secret, illegal cloning procedure, they don't know that the doctor's hidden agenda will have horrifying repercussions when the "new" son passes his eighth birthday and begins having "night terrors" about another boy who'd suffered a similarly unfortunate fate. Any casual viewer will catch the plot twist early, after which Godsend presses its flimsy premise past the breaking point. There are some eerie moments involving the kid (and Bright has effectively disturbing presence), but wretched dialogue and derivative plotting undermine the talented leads, all of whom seem to be slumming in the B-movie cellar. --Jeff Shannon

Flixster Users

33% liked it

36,389 ratings

Critics

5% liked it

133 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Nick Hamm

Release Date: December 1, 2003

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DVD Release Date: August 17, 2004

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Flixster Reviews (926)


  • May 1, 2008
    Why is the average rating for this so low? It wasn't at all that bad, I admit it wasn't one of the best Robert De Niro films I have seen, but it was decent and worth watching to say the least.

    The story is actually very original and unlike no other film I have seen before. It'...( read more)s basically about a couple who loose their son early to an accident. A genetics expert then confronts them and poses them with the idea of using the DNA from their son to clone another child. This would mean raising him again from birth and for them to movie to near the facility known as Godsend. It sounds simple but it becomes twisted and has an unexpected twist at the end. For some it may be easy to work out from the beginning, though it isn't extremely clever it adds something new that the movie would be nothing without.

    I have to say though the ending kinda sucked. They could have done something better, perhaps someone could die? I noticed they did make alternative endings, they should have gone with one of them because this one could have been a lot better.
  • April 18, 2008
    For the past thirty years various films have dealt with children being possessed. Everything from Rosemary's Baby to The Exorcist to The Omen has dealt with the subject matter used here but those films at least tried something different and didn't just recycle stuff seen in previ...( read more)ous films. Godsend tries to be exactly like those films and even mixes in a bit of The Shining but in the end we're left with one extremely bad film that doesn't have a single thing going for it, which is a shame since the story could have been a whole lot better. Following the death of their eight year old son on his birthday, Jessie (Romijn-Stamos) and Paul (Kinnear) are befriended by a doctor on the forefront of genetic research (DeNiro) at the height of their mourning. He leads the couple in a desperate attempt to reverse the rules of nature and clone their son. The experiment is successful and under Richard's watchful eye, Adam grows into a healthy and happy young boy, until his 8th birthday. As time goes by, the Duncan's gradually start to see small, subtle differences between the new Adam and the Adam they lost. At the time of the new Adam's eighth birthday, the changes in character are more pronounced. Adam grows distant and fearful as a palpable sense of menace settles within the young boy. This Adam begins to suffer from night terrors and frightening flashbacks as a sinister personality begins to emerge. Paul and Jessie cannot escape the fact that this Adam is different. Terror settles on the couple as they try to come to terms with just what they have done, or what has been done to them. "Godsend" was a great deception for me, since I expected much more from this film. The first three quarters have some flaws, but is scary and hooks the attention of the viewer. The parents are dumb as a bag of rocks, which is another irritating thing about the screenplay. Not only do they not consider the side effects but they don't seem to even know when things start to take a change for the worst in their new son. When his attitude begins to change, instead of being concerned they simply don't want to know if something is really wrong or not. The film tries to take a more dramatic turn every once in a while by having the parents fight over what they've done but these scenes go nowhere and instead of having a thought provoking conversation the screenplay pretty much jumps over any bright ideas and goes into the next scene, which makes even less sense. Overall it was an ok movie, I guess if your really bored then maybe watch it.
  • February 17, 2008
    This is just as bad as those Omen spin-offs. Totally forced. What a waste of time for three very accomplished actors. Had to watch this on fast forward just to finish the story so I can slam it.
  • February 3, 2008
    Pending Review...

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  • December 16, 2007
    Further proof, if any were needed, that Robert De Niro will make any old tripe if the fee is right. This is an unbelievably awful, instantly forgettable paranormal chiller. The parents of a genetically cloned child spend the entire film trying to prove there's a malevolent kink i...( read more)n his DNA and then, when they find this to be true, they choose to ignore it! How's that for plotting? The kid isn't creepy enough to make an impact, and the film is so painfully dull it feels three times longer than it actually is.
  • November 13, 2009
    I've read some really bad reviews about this movie, but I DON'T CARE!
    It looks very good to me and plus Greg Kinnear is in it so I NEED 2 SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!
  • November 7, 2009
    Good movie. Not one of De Niro's best performances.
  • October 23, 2009
    Started out real good but then just died on me
  • October 2, 2009
    terror and suspense in thsi movie
  • September 19, 2009
    Pretty horrible. The premise was ridiculous. Most of it made no sense. Perhaps Robert DeNiro had some large debts he had to pay off and therefore had no other choice but to take this role...that's the only way I can explain it. Please don't watch this movie.

Critic Reviews


May 3, 2005
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

This pudgy, obvious DeNiro is definitely not the one I grew up admiring. full review

June 6, 2004
David Edelstein, Slate

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

April 30, 2004
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

It's hard to be frightened when you're snickering. full review

April 30, 2004
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Godsend goes nowhere and takes the whole cast with it. full review

April 30, 2004
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Every scare is telegraphed. Every surprise is recycled from a better thriller. Even the devil would send this one back. full review

April 30, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A bad thriller. full review

April 29, 2004
Claudia Puig, USA Today

A poor man's Shining, with some lame Sixth Sense and Omen elements thrown in. full review

April 29, 2004
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

A murky thriller. full review

View more Godsend reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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Godsend Trivia


  • In the movie Godsend what is the name of the boy that gets killed and cloned?  Answer »
  • who was a Godfather to a Godsend, was a The Fan of The Untouchables while packing lots of Heat in a Casino with Goodfellas in the Mean Streets of Cape Fear trying to prevent Backdraft?  Answer »
  • The answer options are all movies linked by the same actor/actress...In which one did he/she featured as a scientist who cloned a boy to help his grieving parents get back their deceased son?  Answer »
  • In the movie 'Godsend", what is the name of the boy that haunts Adam's dreams?  Answer »

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