Review of Child of God (2014) by Grant S — 11 Jul 2015

Unengaging and dull.

A man lives on the fringes of society in a remote rural area. Over time his anti-social behaviour becomes more and more extreme, deranged and felonious.

Despite the grittiness of the plot and some potentially controversial scenes, the movie feels quite empty. It's just a 100-minute walk-though of a few days in the life of an insane, feral person.

There is no engagement with the lead character. We don't get his backstory, or any reason to empathise with him. So it just feels like a join-the-dots, blow-by-blow exercise with no point at all.

While the script is based on a Cormac McCarthy novel, the movie is directed by James Franco, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Now you see where the problem lies... Turns out the only thing worse than James Franco's acting is his directing. On the plus side, while Franco does act in the movie, his role is quite small and has little screen time.