Review of Joshua (2007) by Steven N — 22 Feb 2010

Joshua is very basically the story of a freaky little smart kid who drives both of his parents to insanity, while at the same time murdering and mummifying small animals, all of which begins after the birth of his younger sister.

Obviously things are a bit more dense and complex than my little bare bones synopsis gives credit, but I think that's enough to give you the jist of it. The films strength come in the form of some decent performances.

The kid playing Joshua is good (for a kid), Sam Rockwell is fantastic as his annoyingly optimistic father, and Vera Farmiga is good as his super-spazzy, overly-emotional, "constantly being visited by aunt-flo" mother.

No doubt a big reason for the films success has to be given to it's director George Ratliff. Ratliff has created a very unsettling, wonderfully paced, visually interesting film. There's nothing heavy-handed or over-the-top about it (which is a nice change of pace from recent rash of "scary kid" movies out there.

) You're never quite sure is if there's even anything supernatural going on at all. Is the kid the spawn of Satan, or just a demented Stephen Hawking? Either way he's a freaky little bastard.

I appreciate the fact that we're never really told exactly what to think. The unknown is scary. Always has been, and always will. If you're in the mood for a wonderfully unsettling, very old school feeling thriller, then you could do a lot worse than "Joshua.

" Despite a somewhat corny ending, this one is getting a recommendation from me.