Available at Amazon.com
Director:
George Ratliff
Starring:
Sam Rockwell….Brad Cairn
Vera Farmiga….Abby Cairn
Celia Weston….Hazel Cairn
Dallas Roberts….Ned Davidoff
Michael McKean….Chester Jenkins
Jacob Kogan….Joshua Cairn
Nancy Giles….Betsy Polshek
Linda Larkin….Ms. Danforth
Alex Draper….Stewart Slocum
Stephanie Roth Haberle….Pediatrician
Ezra Barnes….Fred Solomon
Jodie Markell….Ruth Solomon
Rufus Collins….Henry Abernathy
Haviland Morris….Monique Abernathy
Tom Bloom….Joe Cairn
20th Century Fox in participation with ATO Pictures presents Joshua. Screenplay by David Gilbert and George Ratliff. Running time: 106 minutes. Rated R. Release date: January 8, 2008.
The Movie
Children are often the focus of horror movies. They are the victims, the only people capable of seeing what’s actually going on when rational adult minds can’t accept the facts, and they are sometimes even the monster. Rosemary’s baby, through no fault of his own, was a source of considerable terror for Mia Farrow. Damian crawled through streams of blood before he was out of diapers. There are even entire communities of evil kids, such as in Children of the Corn and Village of the Damned.
There’s no definitive reason for this focus. Many times moviemakers put children in danger because it is a quick, effective way of unnerving the audience. However, when the child is the source of terror instead of the recipient, then there is a completely different dynamic. At its core the concept of the dangerous, killer child is unnerving; it feels wrong right down to the marrow. This may be because we are taught—perhaps even biologically programmed—to think of children as innocent with an innate goodness, and when we see the flip side, the evil child, it turns our worldview upside down and throws preconceptions into disarray, which, of course, is the purpose of horror. One of the taglines to the movie, “Not all children are innocent,” speaks to this idea.
Joshua is undoubtedly the best evil child movie to come along in years. It may even be the best evil child movie period. The story begins with Brad and Abby Cairn welcoming their second child, Lily, home. Joshua, her older brother, seems oddly detached, practically uninterested in his little sister. He views it all with a clinical detachment far beyond what a nine year old should be capable of. Events quickly turn bad as Abby suffers severe postpartum depression, Lily cries almost nonstop, and Brad contends with problems at work. Although Brad makes a conscious effort to spend time with his son, he becomes so preoccupied with his wife and newborn daughter he doesn’t truly notice Joshua’s increasingly odd behavior, such as an unhealthy interest in Egyptian burial rights and a practice mummification of his stuffed panda bear.
The key to Joshua‘s greatness lies in ambiguity. Just when you think you know what’s going on, the movie takes a subtle, but important, turn. The story gives you just enough room to doubt what you think you know and that creates a great amount of tension. In many ways this movie is in the spirit of some of Alfred Hitchcock’s best work. The writers and director know that the greatest way to create horror is by prolonging the sense of anticipation. You know something’s not right and you know that something is going to happen, but by the time it actually happens you’re so on edge that you’re practically begging for something to occur just so you can relax.
However, even when that moment happens, you’re still left with that feeling of tension thanks to the musical score. With few exceptions, the music is done entirely on the piano and the composer uses sharp, disturbing, atonal chords that subtly set you on edge.
Assisting the music is the camera work. Ratliff constantly uses odd angles and moving, unsteady style that gives the whole movie a rough, unpolished feel, almost like a documentary, which isn’t surprising considering Ratliff’s background is in documentaries.
Of course, a movie so focused on characters would be lost if it didn’t have talented actors, but Joshua was lucky in this aspect too. All of the actors—especially Jacob Kogan—give brilliant, quiet performances. This is a very grounded movie with a strong minimalist feel and the actors do an excellent job with some very dark, emotional moments.
Fans of suspense, psychological drama, and Hitchcock will definitely enjoy this movie and should make it a part of their DVD collection.
The DVD
Video
The movie was presented in widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
Audio
The sound was presented in Dolby, DTS Surround Sound. The sound stayed on the center track, but any lack of directionality didn’t take away from the movie.
Extra Features
Commentary by Writer/Director George Ratliff and Writer David Gilbert
Cast and Crew Interviews (cumulative running time: 12:03)
These are short, but sometimes interesting, moments with the cast and crew. I wouldn’t actually consider them interviews considering there was no one on camera with the person speaking and no questions were being directly asked. Instead I would classify this more as Cast and Crew Thoughts on the Film.
Internet Advertising Campaign (cumulative running time: 5:28)
There are some interesting discussions between Sam Rockwell and George Ratliff on various aspects of the movie along with a brief segment of Jacob Kogan’s thoughts on the film.
Jacob Kogan’s Audition (running time 3:26)
It’s easy to see how Kogan won the role.
Fly by Dave Matthews Music Video (running time: 4:11)
Deleted Scenes (cumulative running time: 6:47)
This is one of the rare cases where I think the moviemakers should have kept in most of the deleted scenes. Well worth a look.
Joshua Theatrical Trailer (running time: 2:22)
Trailers
