The Good Son (1993)

24% of critics liked it
(25 reviews)
57% of users liked it
(51,115 ratings)

Macaulay Culkin tries for a change of pace playing a schoolyard psychotic in The Good Son. When 12-year-old son Mark (Elijah Wood) is his mother's side as she's dying of cancer, she makes him promise her that she won't die. When she does die, Mark is consumed with grief, as well as guilt that he… More Macaulay Culkin tries for a change of pace playing a schoolyard psychotic in The Good Son. When 12-year-old son Mark (Elijah Wood) is his mother's side as she's dying of cancer, she makes him promise her that she won't die. When she does die, Mark is consumed with grief, as well as guilt that he couldn't keep his promise. Mark's father Jack (David Morse) has to go away for a two week business trip to Tokyo shortly after his wife's death. Thinking that the blustery Maine environment will do him good, he drops Mark off with the family of his Uncle Wallace (Daniel High Kelly). At first, Mark is withdrawn, but soon he begins to warm to his Aunt Susan (Wendy Crewson), his cousin Connie (Quinn Culkin), and particularly his cousin Henry (Macauley Culkin). Mark and Henry pal around together, but Mark begins to notice some of Henry's ideas of fun differ significantly from his own. For example, Henry demonstrates his homemade crossbow by killing the neighbor's dog, and shows Mark his dummy (called "Mr. Highway") that he drops from an overpass onto a highway, causing a 10-car pileup. Mark begins to suspect that the death of Henry's baby brother wasn't an accident, and it appears Henry is now making plans to rub out his sister. But when Mark tries to warn Henry's parents of their son's homicidal tendencies, they refuse to listen to him. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 27 min.
Directed By: Joseph Ruben
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Sep 24, 1993 Wide
On DVD: Feb 3, 2004
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Brian Lowry, Variety
This peculiar thriller doesn't deliver enough jolts to leave the audience screaming.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
There's wonderful use made of a Maine port town, and Ruben gets a dizzying thrill or two out of overhead shots, but the conceptual overload finally prevents this from coming together.
Janet Maslin, New York Times
The Good Son has a handsome, scenic look that sustains interest, and a suspenseful ending that is quite literally gripping.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
Where were the responsible adults when this thing was made?
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
At best, this film is strictly cable fare.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The movie is a creepy, unpleasant experience, made all the worse because it stars children too young to understand the horrible things we see them doing.
Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine
I guarantee you this would have been 100% more effective if Wood and Culkin switched roles
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A second-rate thriller with first-rate production values.
Derek Adams, Time Out
A summer camp classic.
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum
Not a good movie, but a creepy performance by Culkin rescues it.
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
An unintentionally uproarious melodrama; a must-see for fans of the truly terrible
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Almost worth it to see Macauly Culkin's demise. Almost.
Robert Faires, Austin Chronicle
Not The Bad Seed but not bad.
Greg Muskewitz, eFilmCritic.com
Tacky, sloppy genre exercise about how when screws are loose, even children can be psychotic.
Scott Renshaw, rec.arts.movies.reviews
Culkin shows that he might be more than a one-trick pony given a little seasoning. It just might be a good idea if his next trick is something original.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dead A

Macaulay Culkin is really a good actor. This movie was really good.
Jeremy S

Macaulay Culkin is creepy
Conner R

This was a great performance piece for Elijah Wood and Macaulay Culkin. They were both extremely well polished and realistic. The story is convincing and effective mainly due to their performances. The plot is very creepy and a well done child horror.
Randy T

It pains me (a little) to say this, as much as I like Elijah Wood, but this one blew chunks. In all fairness, it's not Elijah's fault. This just doesn't work on any level.
Jason O

Mark (Elijah Wood) is a boy who's mother has just died. His dad carries him over to stay with his aunt, uncle, and cousins for a couple of weeks right after her death. At first, all seems to be going great. But soon, Mark will find out that his cousin, Henry (Macaulay Culkin), is… More
Mark (Elijah Wood) is a boy who's mother has just died. His dad carries him over to stay with his aunt, uncle, and cousins for a couple of weeks right after her death. At first, all seems to be going great. But soon, Mark will find out that his cousin, Henry (Macaulay Culkin), is a 12-year-old psychotic killer. Just one of the things that Henry does is make an attempt to kill his little sister. For the longest time, Mark is the only one that knows Henry's true side. For the first and only time, Macaulay Culkin turned away from playing the mischievous, but likable kid that he portrayed in the "Home Alone" movies, to being a cynical and murderous 'bad guy' on the loose in "The Good Son." Just like Culkin did in "Home Alone," he does a GREAT job in "The Good Son." As a matter of fact, in my opinion, he does his best job of acting in this one, and Elijah Wood does equally as good of a job. A lot of people don't like "The Good Son" because it's so controversial. A 12-year-old boy having a murderous personality like that is controversial, but this day in age, there's a good deal of 12-year-olds that are probably even worse. Also, the ending set up tons of flames from many of the critics and the viewers alike, and when you see it, you'll see why. So why did I like "The Good Son"? Well, because it was unbelievably suspenseful and compelling after I found out what kind of person that Henry was, and the fact that he has almost everybody fooled about his 'true' side. If you can't stand the idea of a 12-year-old murderer portrayed in a movie or if you can't stand the controversy, then don't buy this film. But if you like suspenseful and compelling films, then I recommend it all the way. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001. Culkin rocked at this age.
Drew S

Just a formulaic second-rate thriller, bereft of originality and insight and marred by a totally appalling ending. This shit is bad, and barely in a fun way - most of it is just mean. A lot of that cruelty is dispelled by Macaulay Culkin's total inability to play sociopath,… More
Just a formulaic second-rate thriller, bereft of originality and insight and marred by a totally appalling ending. This shit is bad, and barely in a fun way - most of it is just mean. A lot of that cruelty is dispelled by Macaulay Culkin's total inability to play sociopath, though. He just kind of raves like a lunatic, capable of abstract thinking and ludicrous dialogue far beyond the call for even a preternaturally intelligent child. Whoever wrote this hasn't listened to a pre-teen talk in 20 years. As I was watching, I wondered who the audience for this was. It's a generic thriller, R-rated, and the protagonist and antagonist are eight year old children. Who the fuck was going to see this? But go figure - it pulled in $60 million worldwide. Roger Ebert wrote that young audiences were interested in seeing the movie because it was Macaulay fuckin' Culkin of Home Alone fame, so maybe there's my answer. Kids shouldn't have been watching this movie. Or maybe they should have, as some sort of brutal lesson in good behavior. "Don't be mean to people or your mom will drop you off a fucking cliff!" Weirder still: Ian McEwan wrote the fucking screenplay!!! Of course, the original product was horrifically butchered by the Hollywood octopus into easily digestible thriller fare. Go figure.
Martin S

Macaulay Culkin won my respect in this one....he is such a sinister
Jason S

Pretty creepy movie if you ask me. Culkin drops the cute kid act that we saw in Home Alone and becomes a child murderer in this one. His performance is excellent and you believe that this kid will do you in if you so much as look at him funny. Wood comes in with a good job as the kid… More
Pretty creepy movie if you ask me. Culkin drops the cute kid act that we saw in Home Alone and becomes a child murderer in this one. His performance is excellent and you believe that this kid will do you in if you so much as look at him funny. Wood comes in with a good job as the kid who figures out that this kid is nuts. The setting for the flick lends itself to the mood of being some what alone in the world and having to deal with a killer.
Curtis L

The book is better, but when isn't it? it's still fun to watch Macaulay Culkin as an evil kid.
Tim S

Quite possibly Macauly Culkin's finest hour.
danny d

good flick, that macully is creepy
Dean M

Astounding thriller and quite alike "The Omen". Macaulay Culkin makes a good performance as evil kid.
James A

The true Home Alone 3
Anthony L

So Macaulay Culkin was trying to unwrap the typecasting that he would surely get after being in Uncle Buck, and playing an iconic holiday character in the first two Home Alone movies. He plays a crazy territorial child who wants his Mommy all to himself going to such lengths as to… More
So Macaulay Culkin was trying to unwrap the typecasting that he would surely get after being in Uncle Buck, and playing an iconic holiday character in the first two Home Alone movies. He plays a crazy territorial child who wants his Mommy all to himself going to such lengths as to kill his younger brother and attempting to kill his younger sister (both of which were played by his actual siblings). When Elijah Woods comes to town after his Mom dies he kind of takes on the psycho kids Mom as his mother figure which of course puts him in the line of fire as well. To be fair the kids had fine performances and the adults were the less impressive ones here. But the story is so ridiculous its hard to not giggle at it, and having the benefit of hindsight ol' Kevin McCallister's attempt to avoid the dreaded typecast failed as all I could do is picture him screaming with his hands on his cheeks. I'll give him credit for wanting to do something to break out of that mold, but having him act like an ass (this time against innocents instead of criminals) just didn't do it. However there is a novelty to seeing the kid from Home Alone smoke a cig and say "fuck" which had to be the only thing that earned this movie its "R" rating, now days it would be a moderate PG-13.
Dannielle A

Creepy and hair-raising. An intriguing villian and phenomenal performance by Wood and Culkin. Overall: thought-provoking.
Deb S

The Good Son is about Mark (Elijah Wood), a young boy suffering from the recent loss of his mother to cancer. He ends up going to visit his aunt, uncle, and two cousins in Maine while his dad takes a business trip to Tokyo. Cousin Henry Evans (Macaulay Culkin) is Mark's age and… More
The Good Son is about Mark (Elijah Wood), a young boy suffering from the recent loss of his mother to cancer. He ends up going to visit his aunt, uncle, and two cousins in Maine while his dad takes a business trip to Tokyo. Cousin Henry Evans (Macaulay Culkin) is Mark's age and they soon become good friends but all hell breaks loose after the two young boys get to know each other and Mark learns that angelic-looking Henry's boyish cuteness hides his true nature. Henry is twisted and evil but when Mark tries telling the adults, they refuse to believe him and Henry even finds ways to make Mark seem like the insane child instead. Without being graphic, the violence is chilling and Culkin brings a very dark side to childhood and proves that appearances can be deceiving. HENRY: You like my little sister, don't you? Such a sweet little girl... It'd be too bad if something were to happen to her; if she got hurt... You'd be sad, wouldn't you, Mark? But hey, accidents will happen. Just ask my mom about Richard.
ashley h

creepy but good
Sarah P

A guilty pleasure movie for sure - Macaulay Culkin was super creepy and I enjoyed how they didn't wimp out on the ending.
Kevin L

This movie is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Its just so damn entertaining for me. In this movie we get two great perfomances from two of the best child stars EVER! Yes I'm talking about Elijah Wood and Macaulay Culkin. I think that Culkin does a great job of playing the… More
This movie is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Its just so damn entertaining for me. In this movie we get two great perfomances from two of the best child stars EVER! Yes I'm talking about Elijah Wood and Macaulay Culkin. I think that Culkin does a great job of playing the psychotic young boy in this. I mean he proves that he is the best child star in his gernation, nobody can touch him! My favorite scene was Mr. Highway. You know the scene when Culkin and Elijah drops the dummy in to the road and there is a hige car pile up! That scene is so fucking creepy,looking at Culkin's facil experssions that its enjoyable to him. Then the tunnel scene imediatley after, I mean wow Culkin. I love the dialogue in that scene more than anything, the performance is in his eyes! Henry: I feel sorry for you, Mark. You just don't know how to have fun. Mark: What? Henry: It's because you're scared all the time. I know. I used to be scared too. But that was before I found out. Mark: Found out what? Henry: That once you realize that you can do anything... you're free. You can fly. Nobody can touch you... nobody. Mark... don't be afraid to fly. Mark: You're sick... Henry: Hey, I promise you something amazing, something you'll never forget. Where's the gratitude? This is very underated movie for me! Highy entertaining thiller that will have you thinking for days! I just love those kind of movies. The only thing is and this might seem a little sick,but I wish that Culkin's character was more evil, ya know push the boundires of the human psyche a bit more.. Oh well still a great film.....
Robert F

A really fun watch. How bad are the parents?!? The two boys are allowed to roam freely all over the island, which seems to have been designed as a series of death traps for kids. Wtf?!