Joshua (Joshua: The Devil's Child) poster & wallpaper
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Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean ... see more see more... , Jacob Kogan , Nancy Giles , Linda Larkin , Alex Draper , Stephanie Roth Haberle , Ezra Barnes , Jodie Markell , Rufus Collins , Haviland Morris , Tom Bloom , Antonia Stout , Randy Ryan , Evan Seligman , Patrick Henney , Gurdeep Singh , Nicholas Guidry , Darrill Rosen , Daniel Jenkins , Erik M. Solky , Shianne Kolb , Lacey Vill

Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga star in director George Ratliff's uncomfortable psychological thriller Joshua, as Brad and Abby Cairn, an affluent young stockbroker and his wife, raising children in New... read more read more... York City. Their firstborn, the nine-year-old Joshua (Jacob Kogan), is a frighteningly intelligent child -- to such a degree that he thinks and acts decades ahead of his age. Nearly always clad in formal wear and demonstrating limitless brilliance as a pianist -- with a marked predilection for "dissonant" classical pieces -- Joshua gravitates toward his gay aesthete uncle (Dallas Roberts) as a close friend, but distances himself from his immediate kin -- particularly when Abby brings a newborn baby sister home from the hospital and unwisely alienates the young tyke. As the days pass, one at a time, the mood at the house regresses from healthy and happy to strange, unsettled, and disorienting; meanwhile, bizarre events transpire. As the baby's whines drive an already strained Abby to the point of a nervous breakdown, Joshua devolves from eccentric to downright sociopathic behavior, discarding all of his toys, disemboweling a stuffed animal, and killing off pets. One at a time, family members also begin to suffer tragic fates -- but are they Joshua's fevered and psychotic doings or merely the result of happenstance? ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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40% liked it

18,871 ratings

Critics

62% liked it

98 critics

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: George Ratliff

Release Date: June 16, 2007

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DVD Release Date: February 28, 2006

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Stats: 1,647 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,647)

  • itsjustme2004
    December 19, 2011
    itsjustme2004
    Rather strange movie. Really strange kid. This movie never really comes to a climax the way one might hope, and there are a some unanswered questions. It is pretty clear, however, that the child had a weird agenda all along. A really strange agenda to say the least...
  • vierasesine
    March 22, 2010
    vierasesine
    What a strangle little film. I think this is one of those films that needs to be watched a second time before you can fully appreciate it. Maybe. I've yet to find out.
  • MidnightMadwoman
    April 3, 2009
    MidnightMadwoman
    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 morentroduced 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.
  • kiriyamakazou
    October 21, 2008
    kiriyamakazou
    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 moret 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.
  • paulsandberg
    September 2, 2008
    paulsandberg
    yes, we've seen this sort of premise before, but the cinemetography here makes it worthwhile - you get the sense that all is not quite right from the very beginning, and you keep wondering for the first half if Joshua is just a peculiar and brilliant child or something evil (unti... read morel the point that you see his video where he tells his infant daughter "you'll never be loved" - which he later repeats to his father).

    The undercurrents of a dysfunctional family are subtle - it came as no surprise that the mother had post-partum after Joshua's birth, and while the father seems so gung ho, he somehow comes off as oddly distant (even though he seems to be always there and a somewhat attentive father).

    The underplay of religious overtones is the right measure and I enjoyed the way Joshua slowly ramped up the volume, first taking care of his mother (a revelation at the end that he had been tampering with her meds), then, when his attempt at getting rid of his sister is thwarted, he pushes his grandmother down the stairs instead.

    His end game play against his father was well done and the creepy final scene with his uncle sent shivers, as did the earlier scene where he innocently backs away from his distracted mother, causing her to move forward and into a field of broken glass.
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    February 10, 2008
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    Excellent work by George Ratliff steering a well-built ship from David Gilbert. Rockwell leads a highly talented cast, bringing new spontaneity to the everyman role, and he and Farmiga deliver riveting performances. Her depth of character allows us to feel every bit of the roller... read more coaster of emotion that is post-partum depression, and the rest of the cast finely displays the confusion that results. Jacob Kogan is a fantastic discovery. He lent a surprising focus to the role of the creepy kid, Joshua. This underrated film is highly recommended.
  • LitelBluHli
    January 20, 2008
    LitelBluHli
    PSYCHO!!!
  • drblood
    January 12, 2008
    drblood
    Yet another rip-off of "The Bad Seed" which is supposed to make you think that children can get the better of adults. They can't. Just watch this movie and marvel at the stupidity of whoever thought it would be a good idea to even make it.
    Some of the acting is good but everythi... read moreng is far too slow. It really couldn't have been much slower without stopping altogether.
    This, of course, wasn't even a horror film. It looks like one to the casual observer but it's what they now call a "psychological thriller". Usually that means that you are supposed to think about it but there's nothing really to think about here. You already know that Joshua is a twisted little monster from the beginning and you know that one good spanking would cure him. It could have been made far more ambiguous as to whether or not he was doing anything.
    The most ridiculous part of the whole story is that Joshua's motivation is just that he wants to live with his gay showtune composing uncle instead of his parents.
    If you can stay awake long enough, you might find something to praise in this but I don't think it's going to end up on too many lists of favourites.
  • ceWEBrity
    January 11, 2008
    ceWEBrity
    It's tempting to write Joshua off quickly as flawed or overly convenient; I nearly did. But the more I think and read about this film, the more I realize there is a TON lying beneath the surface. Joshua is one of the most skilled family-based narratives I've seen in this genre, i... read moref not of any movie; there is so, so much to interpret and theorize about. This movie is an exemplar of the term "psychological thriller", which gets bandied about like a cheap whore even though no one truly understands what it means. This is NOT a horror movie. There are a couple of mildly scary parts, but Joshua is like fellow 2007 public pariah Bug: a slow dark drama whose frightful elements are used to mislead people into watching it.

    It's hard for me to discuss this at length, because most of it is spoiler material. Try overlapping the traits of Joshua's family members, parents and relatives alike, and some things will start to make a lot more sense. An intelligent but slightly devious father and a feverishly determined mother, specifically, seems to be the recipe to create a child who wants his way and knows many paths to get it. For added flavor, add fundamentalist grandparents and a sexually ambiguous uncle. Once you start taking apart the elements of his family life, some of the movie's gummier parts make a hell of a lot more sense, especially the jarring ending.

    And thus, Joshua is created. He is a pitiable character; not sympathetic, Lord no, but there were scenes where I felt pretty damn bad for the kid. He's completely miserable and the only way for him to fix that is to wreck a lot of people's lives. He is crazy, but he knows what he needs to be happy. If you don't understand what these needs are, pay close attention to certain scenes, such as the piano recital and the dialogue Joshua has with his dad about sports and being "weird." Kid's deeply damaged.

    Turning an eye to the rest of the family is just as rewarding; there is really a lot to be probed in these strange, miserable people. The success of all of these characters is 50% the brilliant screenplay by George Ratliff and 50% the equally brilliant performances by all players involved. Sam Rockwell is totally seamless as always, selling his part with an energy that is both intelligent and darkly comic. Vera Farmiga's something new: there is a raw, realistic quality about her acting here, which can make her seem a little off-putting, but she's just a lot less mawkish than the part seems to call for. One thing I'd change about Joshua is that I wish there was more for Abby Cairn to do aside from scream and cry, but that's...her personality, like it or not. Celia Weston is reliably great; Dallas Roberts sells a small part quite well. Jacob Kogan's performance is interesting, because the character he spins is profoundly awkward and you can never really tell if that was the purpose of his portrayal, or just amateurish acting. I give him the benefit of the doubt, simply because of a handful of absolutely chilling scenes that I can't see any other child actors pulling off.

    The last thing that I really loved about this film, surprisingly, was the cinematography. Joshua is an awesome-looking movie. The set design reflects the feel of the film immaculately, creating an apartment that seems well-worn but reveals itself to be totally sterile (which even the movie makes note of.) Camera tricks themselves are impressive, whether it's the sprinkling of jittery tracking shots or the evocative, lingering still images. It is really a treat to see a movie in this genre look so unique.

    I was sure I'd like this movie before I even saw it, because I read it for what it was - a slow-burning, evil drama about a screwy family. And that's what Joshua is. Not a horror film, not a slasher, not an Omen clone. A sleek, angry dissertation of one fucked-up kid and the tiny things wrecking him.
  • nuheart
    December 12, 2007
    nuheart
    They say it's "subtle". They say it's "unsettling". I say it's "boring".

View All Joshua (Joshua: The Devil's Child) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Mark Bourne
January 8, 2008
Mark Bourne, Film.com

...a bewildering extension rather than a retread of this played-out subgenre. Full Review

J. R. Jones
January 3, 2008
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

As horror flicks go this is both smart and suspenseful. Full Review

Joe Baltake
August 22, 2007
Joe Baltake, Passionate Moviegoer

'Joshua': More than a 'horror film' - a staunchly unforgiving, thoroughly uncomproming look at how a child systematically ruins the lives of his parents Full Review

Sean Means
August 3, 2007
Sean Means, Film.com

The nerve-shattering ending will have you hugging your children when you get home - but only if there are witnesses present.

Colin Covert
July 19, 2007
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

The contrived script expects us to believe that Joshua's fainting spells, his nocturnal home videos of his sleeping family and his acts of violence on crowded New York City streets fail to raise suspi...

Geoff Pevere
July 13, 2007
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

Ratliff's movie almost succeeds in hurtling over the trenches it digs for itself in an increasingly ludicrous third act. But not quite. Full Review

Shauna Lyon
July 13, 2007
Shauna Lyon, New Yorker

Fairly absorbing film. Full Review

Bruce Newman
July 13, 2007
Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News

Sickeningly creepy. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
July 13, 2007
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

If you've never wanted to punch a child in the face, see Joshua and discover a whole new side of yourself. Full Review

Jennie Punter
July 13, 2007
Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail

A fascinating, if chilling, break from the season's usual summer movie thrills -- especially for parents-to-be. Full Review

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