Review of Mikey (2003) by Wayne K — 23 Sep 2016

Not without its positives, but certainly with a healthy dose of negatives, Mikey was banned in UK on it's release, and has remained controversial to this day. It has the visual quality of a TV movie, and the acting chops of a middle school play.

The eponymous child character is acted so poorly that it's nearly impossible to get truly invested in what he's going though. Rather than portraying a kid whose mental state is deteriorating, he simply switches jarringly between behavioural extremes.

The other actors aren't as bad, but none of them can contribute much to a story so implausible. Why was Mikey's self-harm not taken more seriously, and why were the police never called when he went crazy? It's also quite incredible how completely useless the adults are when it comes to defending themselves from a skinny 9-year-old, not knowing how to do simple things like running or hiding.

It does have some creepy moments, and while the score sounds recycled from every other horror film from the time period, it is still effective in heightening our apprehension. I wouldn't watch it again, and if I knew what I was getting into beforehand, I probably wouldn't even have watched it in the first place.