SummaryJoshua is the tale of Brad and Abby Cairn, perfect Manhattan parents in a perfect Manhattan apartment whose perfect life begins to crack after the birth of their second child Lily. Shortly after Lily arrives home, a dark side of prodigy son Joshua slowly begins to reveal itself. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Directed By:George Ratliff
Written By:David Gilbert, George Ratliff
Joshua
Metascore
Generally Favorable
69
User score
Generally Favorable
6.8
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
69
84% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
16% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
Superbly crafted psychological thriller.
80
Poised self-consciously between art and entertainment, Joshua offers imaginative staging and some superb performances.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.8
50% Positive
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
36% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
14% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Apr 14, 2014
10
Joshua is a perfect and smart psychological thriller with kids as the leading role. Not horror, but the tension in this film so dark and thrilled. Slow in story-telling but geniusly sure.
Apr 14, 2020
8
It's easy to pass this off as an Omen ripoff but this film, although familiar is actually quite effective and disturbing. It centers around a young boy whose emotionally disconnected from anything that happens and than start to act on awful impulses. It all starts when his Mom played by a strong Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring). She's had overwhelming depression in the past and feels a more kinship with her new baby. A sexy Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri) stars as the supportive father whose slowly loosing his mind. The movie is psychologically disturbing and quite intense. It's definitely not a film for everyone but if you can stomach the horrific turns it's well worth it. 4.25/5
75
To lump in this smart, subtle, deviously effective thriller with "The Omen" or "The Good Son" is neither fair nor entirely accurate.
75
Terrifically sneaky psychological thriller, which takes great pleasure in watching carefully constructed family values come tumbling down.
70
Even though the story covers familiar ground, it provides enough tension and humor in the presentation to make it worth watching
63
A painfully slow psychological thriller.
50
The line between eeriness and tedium is fatally fluid.
Mar 21, 2019
4
A cartoonish mishmash of 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'The Omen'. Sam Rockwell really is a rough diamond in any uneven movie.
Nov 29, 2020
0
Approximately an hour and 45 minutes of my life I’ll never get back and I still have absolutely no idea what the hell I watched. Beware of the positive reviews. I think that mainstream critics give high reviews for convoluted plots that make absolutely no sense. They confuse convoluted nonsense with being complex and deep. This movie is neither complex nor deep. It’s simply stupid
Production Company:
- ATO Pictures
Release Date:Jul 6, 2007
Duration:1 h 46 m
Rating:R
Tagline:The story of a perfect boy who had the perfect plan.
Awards
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Fright Meter Awards
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
