Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Jacob Kogan

JOSHUA is the tale of Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby (Vera Farmiga) Cairn, perfect Manhattan parents in a perfect Manhattan apartment whose perfect life begins to crack after the birth of their second c...( read more  read more... )hild Lily. Shortly after Lily arrives home, a dark side of prodigy son Joshua slowly begins to reveal itself.

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40% liked it

17,089 ratings

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: George Ratliff

Release Date: December 31, 2007

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DVD Release Date: February 28, 2006

Stats: 1,507 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,507)


  • August 16, 2009
    An excellent film- if you're smart enough to interpret the subtle message. If you desire to know what type of parent not to become, watch Joshua.
  • April 3, 2009
    This movie moved WAAAY too slow for its own good. I know the director was going for that show-burn dread that I like so much in artful contemporary horror, but they payoff in this film was infinitsimal. There are so many interesting avenues this film could have explored, but it i...( read more)ntroduced then abandoned every one of them. Joshua and his grandmother's rabid religiosity, Abby's sever recurrent post-partum depression, the inherent tensions between Brad's homelife and career and Joshua's own emotional turmoil are all completely wasted here. I think that the shifting focus between the characters in this film was a mistake. First it's Abby, and she's quickly disposed of, then it would appear to be Joshua for a little while, and the plot finally settles on the unravelling Brad. Just when it looks like they're going to grant Joshua some depth, they flatten him out again. Which is the biggest shame in the film, because he could have proven to be a new breed of Bad Seed. Oh well.
  • October 21, 2008
    The kind of film where you wish every single character would just curl up and die painfully. The absence of supernatural elements is in the films favour. The acting and writing however are not. Joshua is played not as evil or disturbed but as a precocious irritating shit head tha...( read more)t is about to put his hands to his head and declare "Na-na-nee-na-na". He stands around a lot and waits for his parents to turn around so they jump. He's so awkward you wonder why his idiot parents don't take action sooner. Giving all his toys away, performing mummifications on them and so forth. Then we have the parents, the mother is played rather well and has a history of mental illness so her actions are mostly understandable as are peoples reactions to them. The father though is one big twat bag. He finds evidence that his son is evil, it's on tape. Should he show this to anyone? Naaaaaaaah. Just start acting like a weirdo yourself. Stare vacantly, dress like a tramp and smoke lots. Act calmly about your mother's suspected murder at the funeral. Why not? Even when everything does turn to shit perhaps the father will show somebody the tape, but no. The film does leave a lot to interpretation. No violent acts are shown on screen making it fairly interesting. Overall though the sheer annoyance factor weighs this down as a film to burn every copy of.
  • August 30, 2008
    Not scary or that suspenseful, however, the storyline and acting, esp. Rockwell, was better than I expected.
  • March 27, 2008
    Joshua: "I'll give you five dollars if you let me throw a rock at you."

    ...( read more)border="0" alt="Photobucket">

    A The Omen/The Bad Seed modern version that doesn't really bring anything new, except its attempt to use real demons - postpartum depression, child abuse - as elements of horror, where it certainly deserves some credit. Jacob Kogan is also genuinely creepy in some occasions and Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga don't know how to not be at least solid. In the end, Joshua can't really be considered a bad film, but the best thing it does is to remind us of the best films of the creepy-kid sub-genre that were made a long time ago. Still worth it.
  • November 14, 2009
    Recommended by JDFortuneFan.

    Totally NOT what i was expecting,i was expecting some crappy horror movie (mostly due to the title The Devils Child) but Joshua was an unusual artsy thriller. It was different from all the other evil kids movies,me and my daughter laughed at Joshua...( read more)'s evilness all the way through the movie but the final scene was chilling and worth the wait. He was one evil clever little ****er!

    Vera Farmiga must adore evil brats because after this she went on to film Orphan.
  • October 28, 2009
    What a load of piffle... Was so bored in the first twenty minutes I was losing the will to live... Couldn't be stuffed to watch anymore. Watch The Omen (the original).
  • October 28, 2009
    This is a pretty messed up movie. It's slow to begin with, and is kinda reminiscent of The Omen but for some reason reminds me more of Rosemary's Baby, in that the two female leads look and act very similarly lol. It's kinda creepy, at times. Joshua is is one messed up little boy...( read more), indeed.
    Ma and da' have a new baby and Joshua doesn't feel happy about that at all. He starts screwing with their heads. Its a good watch, I think. But I think it's one of those "it lost its edge after the first time" movies.
  • October 27, 2009
    a sad family, mayb really got such thing happening
  • October 9, 2009
    I was hoping for more :|

Comments


  • drblood
    January 12, 2008
    Just watch "The Bad Seed" instead. This tries to be clever but isn't.

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