The Prodigy (2019)

A little kid can be the death of you.

(2019) Horror (Orion) Taylor Schilling, Jackson Robert Scott, Peter Mooney Colm Feore, Paul Fauteux, Brittany Allen, Paula Boudreau, Elisa Moolecherry, Olunike Adeliyi, Janet Land, Martin Roach, Byron Abalos, Ashley Black, Tristan Vasquez, Nicholas McCarthy, Jim Annan, Milton Barnes, Grace Armas, Brock Johnson, Michael Dyson, Mark Sparks, Martha Girvin. Directed by Nicholas McCarthy

 

The creepy kid is a horror trope that goes back half a century. Kids are innocent, angelic; they are the future and we can’t see anything bad in them – after all, they’re just kids – but who says a kid can’t be a psychopathic monster? There is evidence that some kids have exactly that trait within them from birth.

But the film is quick to point out, in this case, that it isn’t really the poor little dear’s fault. Young Miles Blume (Scott) is born to his protective mom (Schilling) and disbelieving dad (Mooney) just as serial killer Edward Scarka (Fauteux) is killed during a police raid, the cops having been led to his in-the-middle-of-nowhere farmhouse by the sole survivor of his escapades (Allen), who had her hands chopped off for her trouble.

At first, the kid just seems precocious to the delight of mommy. But that soon gives way to genuine creepiness – the dead-eyed stares, the animal abuse, the accident befalling a babysitter (Black). The kid is speaking a rare dialect of Hungarian in his sleep, one spoken by Scarka. It appears the serial killer is not quite dead yet and he has an axe to grind with the woman who got away – and he doesn’t have a problem using young Miles to do it.

Although there are some nice twists and plot points here, this is pretty standard for the subgenre. The big reveal about what is wrong with Miles is answered way too early in the film and rather than giving us a parental “is my kid really a monster” conundrum to deal with, we just get one parent (the mom) denying reality, the other perhaps embracing reality too easily.

Schilling (Orange is the New Black) and Scott (the doomed younger brother in the IT movies) are actually pretty good, particularly Scott who is truly convincing; the movie doesn’t work with a lesser performance in place. But the movie relies too much on jump scares (the refuge of unimaginative directors) and hackneyed dark house stalker clichés to really be of more than passing interest.

REASONS TO SEE: Schilling and Scott give pretty decent performances.
REASONS TO AVOID: Very predictable, utilizing too many jump scares.
FAMILY VALUES: There are some disturbing images, violence, terror, profanity, a sexual reference and brief graphic nudity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Scott sandwiched the filming of The Prodigy in between shoots for IT and IT Chapter 2, thus meaning he filmed three straight horror movies.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon, AppleTV, Epix, Fandango Now, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft, Redbox, Vudu, YouTube
CRITICAL MASS: As of 7/6/20: Rotten Tomatoes: 42% positive reviews: Metacritic: 45/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Bad Seed
FINAL RATING: 6/10
NEXT: The Outpost

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New Releases for the Week of March 6, 2015

CHAPPIE

(Columbia) Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver, Yo-Landi Visser, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Ninja, Brandon Auret. Directed by Neill Blomkamp

In a future in which crime is fought by mechanized police forces, a robot is stolen and reprogrammed, given the ability to learn, grow and feel. Renamed Chappie, this is the first truly artificial intelligence with the potential to be a lifeform which makes a lot of people nervous. These people will stop at nothing to make sure that Chappie is eliminated and none like him ever emerge. Not. Ever.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard, IMAX (opens Thursday)
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for violence, language and brief nudity)

Hayride 2

(Freestyle) Sherri Eakin, Jeremy Sande, Jeremy Ivy, Corlandos Scott. When the serial killer Pitchfork escapes from custody, a manhunt ensues with the killer taking refuge in a hospital. There the bloodthirsty killer has all sorts of opportunities to work on his craft even further.

See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Touchstar Southchase
Rating: R (for bloody horror violence throughout and language)

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

(Fox Searchlight) Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Richard Gere, Judi Dench. The success of the hotel has left only one room available, which poses a dilemma for new arrivals of the opposite sex. Expanding with a second hotel takes a lot more of the ambitious manager’s time, considering he is about to get married. Meanwhile the residents continue to adjust to their new lives in India not always as smoothly as they’d like.

See the trailer, clips and featurettes here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard (opens Thursday)
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG (for some language and suggestive comments)

Unfinished Business

(20th Century Fox) Vince Vaughn, James Marsden, Sienna Miller, Tom Wilkinson. After leaving a large corporate entity to start his own small business, a hard-working savvy entrepreneur travels to Europe with his other two employees to close the deal that will establish his business and take them from sure bankruptcy. However he must overcome nearly every obstacle imaginable – including competing against his old business to win the bid that will save his company.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard (opens Thursday)
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for some strong risqué sexual content/graphic nudity, and for language and drug use)

What We Do in the Shadows

(Unison/Paladin) Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jackie van Beek, Jonny Brugh. A documentary film crew follows a group of four vampires sharing a flat together which isn’t always as easy as it sounds when you’re the egotistical undead. From the New Zealand lunatics who brought you Flight of the Conchords.

See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Horror Comedy
Now Playing: Enzian Theater
Rating: NR

Ghost Town

If you can't see them, they can't hurt you.

(DreamWorks) Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni, Kristen Wiig, Billy Campbell, .Aasif Mandvi, Alan Ruck, Dana Ivey, Aaron Tveit. Directed by David Koepp

People can be a damned nuisance. It’s difficult enough dealing with the living; how much more irritating would it be to have to deal with the dead as well.

Dr. Bertram Pincus (Gervais) has two things working against him; he’s a dentist and he’s a snooty New Yorker. Normally, that’s enough to make anyone want to punch him. However, he happens to be an insufferable bastard as well, the combination with the other two factors enough to make anyone wish him to die. Which is, somewhat ironically, precisely what he does.

Fortunately for the good doc, it’s only for seven minutes while on the operating table to have some gastro-intestinal work done by a doctor (Wiig) more interested in getting a really nice tan. When Pincus wakes up, he can see dead people. He can also communicate with them.

As fast as you can say “M. Night Shyamalan” Pincus is surrounded by the dearly departed, all demanding some sort of favor from him so they can reach closure on their lives. Their ex-lives, anyway. Pincus doesn’t even like the living – he surely can’t stand the dead. They’re so demanding. However, he does want his life of solitude and peace back. A fast-talking businessman/con artist named Frank (Kinnear) guesses this and makes a deal with Pincus; if he will do a small favor for Frank, Frank will in return keep the other ghosts off his back.

Sounds like a deal, no? Not when the little favor is to keep Frank’s widow Gwen (Leoni) from marrying Richard (Campbell) who Frank thinks is absolutely bad news for Gwen. The problem is that Gwen and Pincus have had run-ins before, none of them pleasant. I’m sure she would rather take relationship advice from Jack the Ripper but Pincus perseveres with a kind of offbeat charm. Now, he has a shot at maybe finding something he has always lacked among the living.

Director Koepp is better-known as a writer of big budget genre films like Spider-Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls and Jurassic Park so it was a little bit of a surprise that his first directorial effort would be a romantic comedy, but here you are. The smartest decision he makes is casting Gervais. This is the kind of role that’s right in his wheelhouse, and he hits it out of the park. Nobody can do unpleasant like Gervais, and he’s in prime form here.

He has some nice support as well. Kinnear does a great job as the wheeler dealer and his interaction with Gervais works nicely. Leoni can be bland in some of her lead roles, but she gives this part a nice bit of spunk. Mandvi as Gervais’ partner in the dental practice and Wiig have some scene-stealing time, and Dana Ivey and Ruck as desperate ghosts add some poignancy.

This is clearly inspired by movies like Topper and the supernatural screwball comedies of the ‘30s, and the low-tech special effects actually make this a refreshing change from more recent movies that are CGI-heavy. This leaves Koepp free to concentrate on the performances, which he does nicely. It also allows the audience to do the same, which serves the film nicely; we’re not so distracted by high-tech trickery.

This isn’t going to redefine the genre by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a pleasant surprise. Truly, this is the kind of movie to put in the DVD player on a dark night when you just want to feel good. What better eulogy can you have than that?

WHY RENT THIS: Ricky Gervais and Kristen Wiig – say no more. Naw, I’ll say more – a fun premise and some nice interactions between the living, the dead and Gervais.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Fairly routine romantic comedy with a supernatural edge may or may not appeal to your sensibilities.

FAMILY VALUES: There are some sexual references here and there as well as a few bad words and drug references but this is pretty harmless for most audiences.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The good doctor is named after Dr. Charles Pincus, inventor of the dental veneer. You’re welcome.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: None listed.

FINAL RATING: 7/10

TOMORROW: Cyrus