Joshua

(2007) ***1/2

Joshua is a child prodigy, a real genius. When a baby sister arrives he doesn't handle sharing Mom(Abby) & Dad's(Brad) love all so well. But Joshua is very smart, none of the usual jealous sibling behavior is present. Outwardly he's loving and caring but underneath he has the cunning of a serial killer. As Abby's health deteriorates so does her sanity. Once Brad is forced into taking on the sole parenting responsibility he starts to put things together. Question is, is he cunning enough to outsmart Joshua.


After reading the synopsis I just wrote I can say it's accurate but does the film no justice. This really isn't your typical evil kid here. Joshua is almost machine, he's cold and analytical. I don't believe he is capable of understanding normal human emotion. When a social worker comes in to assess him he draws a picture depicting a pile of dead babies and blood. The social worker tells Brad this is text book signs of abuse. He pleads with her (to no avail I might add) that she just doesn't understand the kind of kid he is. He tells her that Joshua probably looked it up on the internet so he would know what to do. The film is a slow burner, building up tension and frustration right to the end. I truly sympathized with these people. It's your kid, what do you do? You don't want to believe the worst, you love him yet something is just not right.


There is a fine line with bad child films that is seldom crossed because no one wants to “go there”. We all think it, heck we want to see it after all the rotten shit the kid does. This film crosses that self control line which totally bumped the rating up for me. I won't tell you more as I'm sure right now your thinking the worst. I'll just say that my respect for Sam Rockwell as an actor definitely got bumped up a few notches after watching him as Brad. Joshua ranks up there in my list of creepy kids. A child without emotion is downright chilling.