The Good Son

It would have been interesting if a director with a distinctive signature or a more expressive style had worked with the same screenplay. The Good Son is so dull in its execution that its unimaginatively calculated style paradoxically draws attention to itself. As a result, the film feels like an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which, however, is not entirely a bad thing. After all, the film’s ordinariness makes its concept of evil even more resonant. Though questions about the nature of evil are posed in the film, they are peculiarly voiced by a child who may still be that naïve. As the second main character shows, however, the evil here is not anything mystical, but rather something that is innately human and has its origins in both emotion and rationality, deriving in this case from a wilful, egocentric boy who is aware of the power that his status as a child gives him over those around him. Accordingly, it was a brilliant move to cast Macaulay Culkin in this role, and it can even be said that one alleged effect of the film was that following its release, everyone stopped buying into his image as an all-American angel. Thanks to the concept of evil as described above, The Good Son is not a horror movie, but rather a psychological thriller built on the theme of childhood innocence or, more precisely, the assumption and exploitability of that innocence. (22/12/2014)

Raw in its working atmosphere and original thanks to the focus on the child protagonists, who give excellent performances, but unfortunately the story is rather weak and predictable. No more, no less. 65% (04/03/2012)

A good example of the horror crisis of the 1990s, where even something as average as The Good Son deserves at least three stars. (30/12/2010)

Very decent direction and cinematography. Little Culkin was obviously a megatalent as he gives a really incredible performance in places. Except the ending is maybe a bit too Sophie’s Choice -) (25/07/2010)