Review of Child of God (2014) by Jackie S — 22 Jan 2017

First, having read the book, I think one error the director committed was making Lester seem too crazy or cognitively deficient. Watching a movie based on a work by Cormac McCarthy requires some knowledge of McCarthy's worldview; otherwise, a viewer might see some of the content as gratuitous.

This movie makes at least two statements: 1. that we are born into circumstances not of our making, and for which we are not responsible; we are responsible for our choices, assuming we are capable of understanding the choices we make.

The forces of capitalism are not always positive; we see in the movie the foreclosure and sale of the Ballard land, leaving Lester homeless. No one cares. It's just business. Along with capitalism goes commodification and desire for possession(s); women are often commodified in our society (nude pinups, prostitution or sex slavery etc) and, with the rise of women's liberation and "coming out" into the world and their own, making their own decisions, some men became upset or, even, panicked at the loss of privilege they thought they enjoyed.

Lester is a man who sees a woman as a source of gratification and, it seems, nothing more. Unable to deal with women on a personal level, he resorts to necrophilia, the ultimate exploitation and denigration of a woman.

We also view the corruption of the law -- the sheriff is not exactly the epitome of justice, nor are the men who would take justice into their own hands, wishing to lynch Lester. With any knowledge of recent history, one knows the terror that lynchings created in the US.

Much of this movie is social/economic criticism. It is quite ugly at times. So is reality.