Joshua

Rank

Top 40% of all time (see others with this rank)

Festival Year

2007 (click here to see all competition films from this year)

Category

Dramatic Competition

Cast

Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean, Jacob Kogan

Non-Cast Credits

David Gilbert, George Ratliff, Johnathan Dorfman, Benoit Debie, Jacob Craycroft, Nico Muhly, Astrid Brucker

Description

One of the most difficult choices anyone has to make is whether or not to have a child. It is a life-altering decision that carries profound consequences even if everything goes right. But what if it goes horribly wrong?

Joshua tells the story of the quintessential well-to-do New York City family: a successful father who works on Wall Street; a mother who chooses to stay at home to care for their newborn daughter; and Joshua, a precocious young piano prodigy. With the newborn's addition, the family's dynamic shifts, and their seemingly idyllic world begins falling apart. But is it just the rigors of caring for a newborn and a little sibling rivalryor is it something much more sinister?

George Ratliff, who directed the documentary Hell House, successfully transitions to the narrative world with a horror story disguised as a sophisticated family drama. Eschewing dark shadows and recherch camera angles, he compensates for the sinister content by favoring daylight over nighttime and preserving a straightforward, natural approach that defies expectations. Thanks to complex performances from a top-notch cast, Joshua transcends the genre to create a modern horror story that demonstrates how the potential for evil exists in the everyday.

Reviewer

Trevor Groth (see other films reviewed by the same reviewer)

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