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Movies / On DVD / Joshua
Joshua

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Joshua (2007)

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Reviews Counted:95

Fresh:59

Rotten:36

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Though Joshua is ultimately too formulaic, its intelligence and suspenseful buildup heighten the overall creep factor.

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby Cairn (Vera Farmiga) seem to have it all. A successful Manhattan couple living in a plush uptown apartment, they have just welcomed their second child into the... Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby Cairn (Vera Farmiga) seem to have it all. A successful Manhattan couple living in a plush uptown apartment, they have just welcomed their second child into the family--a lovely little girl named Lily. Everything should be golden for the happy family, but their little boy--the nine-year-old Joshua (Jacob Kogan)--is less than pleased with the latest addition to the family. An intelligent but odd little boy, Joshua's lack of humor and preoccupation with death belie his tender age, and as the parents coo over Lily, it becomes clear that they are not quite sure what to make of their stone-faced son. When Lily suddenly turns from a quiet baby into one who mysteriously begins wailing day and night, the Cairns' ordered life quickly disintegrates. The lack of sleep and stress takes a heavy toll on the mentally fragile Abby, and Brad begins racing around the city trying to care for his newborn daughter, ailing wife, and emotionally disturbed son. The family stress mounts, and when small animals and the family dog turn up dead, it doesn't take long before fingers begin pointing at the brooding and bizarre Joshua. Vera Farmiga delivers a realistic and disturbing performance as someone tottering at the edge of emotional collapse, and Sam Rockwell is a true pleasure to watch in his turn as a father desperately trying to hold his life together. Using a slow, teasing pace and claustrophobic camera angles, the film strives for a Hitchockian level of suspense while also delivering many topnotch performances. [More]

Starring: Jacob Kogan, Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston

Starring: Jacob Kogan, Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean

Director: George Ratliff

Director: George Ratliff
Screenwriter: George Ratliff, David Gilbert
Producer: Johnathan Dorfman
Composer: Nico Muhly
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Reviews for Joshua

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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The creepy child genre hasn't had a movie this much fun in a long time.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
09/06/07
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

It's The Omen without the goofy looking kid or supernatural elements. If you can put up with the glacial pacing the payoff is almost worth the wait, it left me haunted for days.

Full Review Source: Eclipse Magazine | comment Comment
07/06/07
Michelle Alexandria
Michelle Alexandria
Eclipse Magazine

In good quality horror, fear and suspense arise from a deepening sense of character, not a noisier sense of one.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
03/01/07
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Boxoffice Magazine

'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 Source: Passionate Moviegoer | comment Comment
08/22/07
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Passionate Moviegoer

Bad seed? The whole dang garden is rotten in 'Joshua,' a psychological horror film that demonstrates that the poison apple doesn't fall far from the toxic family tree.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
08/31/07
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

The movie's eerie vibe is genuinely disturbing and difficult to shake off. That's a good thing in this genre.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
09/26/07
Geoff Berkshire
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com

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

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
01/08/08
Mark Bourne
Mark Bourne
Film.com

A psychological thriller that's not only lovely to look at but also intriguing enough to keep you guessing until the end. And even then you may not have figured it out.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
07/13/07
Teresa Budasi
Teresa Budasi
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A brilliant house-of-horror tale with Hitchcockean flair.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
01/27/07
Duane Byrge
Duane Byrge
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ultimately predictable.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/05/07
Chris Cabin
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

As the film wears on, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate the dry humor from the supposed chills. Consequently, Joshua drifts into camp.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
07/06/07
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

if you strip away all the meddling that Joshua does, it's clear to see the family is dysfunctionally psychopathic from the start

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
07/23/07
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Uneasily straddling age groups and genres, Joshua is a highly effective family drama cloaked in the stale tropes of the demon-seed thriller.

comment Comment
07/06/07
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Clever performances and great atmospherics compensate for the gaps in logic.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
07/05/07
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...the kind of movie that makes you want to yell at the characters: Can't you see what your crazy kid is doing?!?!

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
07/06/07
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

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 suspicion until it is too late.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
07/19/07
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Builds to a number of gripping climaxes that leave the viewer quite shaken by how subtly and effectively this movie delivers on the thrills.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment 1 Comment
01/22/07
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Shows its cards too early and then tells you what they are in case you missed them.

Full Review Source: Mark Reviews Movies | comment Comment
07/05/07
Mark Dujsik
Mark Dujsik
Mark Reviews Movies

Works best as a drama of family decay.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
07/03/07
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine

Perhaps the scariest thing about Joshua was the feeling I got at the end that I had just sat through some kind of weird gay panic movie.

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment 1 Comment
07/05/07
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
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