This is a very strange and unconventional horror/thriller with fantastic performances by Vera Farmiga and Jacob Kogan. Usually kid actors in horror films bug me (I'm lookin' at you, new OMEN kid!), but this little dude totally creeped me out in a Martin Stephens kind of way. It's an excellent performance and one of the best things this offbeat movie has going for it. This movie's plot sounds like typical "Bad Seed" ground, but it twists and turns into really bizarre territory, disorienting the viewer to the point where you have no idea where it's going or where it's been. I'm still not sure if I even liked it, but it did make me feel incredibly uneasy, and I guess that's worth something.

"Cruel children, crying babies, All grow up as geese and gabies, Hated, as their age increases, By their nephews and their nieces." Robert Louis Stevenson

If you're thinking of starting a family, don't see Joshua. If you think your stockbroker spouse is a stable breadwinner capable of providing you a view of Central Park, don't see Joshua. If you think all your children will be lovable, don't see Joshua.

However, if you want the bejesus scared out of you by a kid so bright he could skip two grades and play Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 12 at recess, director George Ratliff, whose Hell House could have entitled this expert psychological thriller, has fashioned a hell of a cautionary tale about appearances and reality, unlovable kids and their clueless parents. The slow disintegration of an upper-middle class family is so carefully drawn that the first third of the film seems like a walk in the park with a few scrapes from some errant shrubbery. When, however, nine-year old Joshua Cairn (Jacob Kogan) begins missing his parents' affection, displaced to his crybaby newborn sister, strange but not too strange things happen, not easily ascribable to him.

As in most successful thrillers involving miscreant kids, even to the end is a doubt that they could be the source of the growing terror. Although comparisons to The Bad Seed and Rosemary's Baby seem fair, Kogan bears a strong resemblance to Buddy Swan, who played the young Charles Foster Kane with chilling deadpan. Kane's lifelong hang up over being separated from his family is an appropriate allusion to clarify the psychological ramifications in this film.

Although I was quite pleased with the slow exposition, because I think things unravel slowly in privileged families, the payoff ending came too quickly and without the supernatural underpinnings the buildup seemed to promise.

"Modern children were considerably less innocent than parents and the larger society supposed . . . ." David Elkind, Child Psychologist

completely mis-marketed as an Omen-type horror film, there's a lot more going on in this one than in most of the recent similar scary fare. first things first: there's no supernatural hoo-hah. (ah, so refreshing.) it's an unsettling, strangely plausible horror film... seemingly made especially for parents. a few plot elements bothered me, and i felt there was one misstep (involving a Dave Matthews song, btw!), but overall it was an effective chiller. Vera Farmiga as the increasingly imbalanced mother and Celia Weston as the holy-rolling but genuinely concerned mother-in-law are both excellent, and Sam Rockwell delivers another compelling and subtly idiosyncratic performance. George Ratliff, who directed the engrossing and discomfiting 2001 documentary, Hell House, shows promise as a narrative filmmaker.

Who give this movie 1 rating, you havnt seen that much have you ? This is high class horrordrama, the boy is a absolute fantastic actor, and the script is smart - and well done produced, and then its not a rated 1 - The movie might not suite everyone, but its not a 1 rating - this is a very good movie, little long and not the best ending, but its good.

Upon the birth of his little sister, a young sociopath starts to exhibit very dark behaviour.

Despite having loving parents, he feels that he could not possibly be loved.

Though, he's extremely intelligent for his age, and quickly learns how to manipulate different people in different ways.

He starts by poisoning his baby sister, so that she cries incessantly.

Which drives his mother into post partum depression.

Next, he messes with her medication, until she loses her mind...and is institutionalized.

Then he kills his dog and all of his classes animals.

Before murdering his grandmother, by pushing her down a flight of stairs.

And framing his father for abuse.

He manages this in ways that enable him to get off as a result of plausible deniability.

Seemingly to force his uncle into taking him in, as he is the only one who ever gave him the attention he desired.

Having never been punished for anything he does, one is left to imagine how this behaviour will only be left to escalate in the future.

It's not your typical horror film, but it does have an unsettling quality to it.

Though it is kind of bland.

It's meant to disturb you in a more psychological sense, rather than shock you in a gruesome one.

But it's not exactly the most entertaining film.

Though I guess it does what it sets out to do.

Just like Joshua.

4 out of 10.

The movie was a little creepy in a Bad Seed sort of way. You're dealing with a child that seems to have no real feelings for anyone. It was pretty good.

With very little foreknowledge, I tuned into this movie expecting some kind of kid-possessed-by demon Exorcist/Damien rip-off, but although the film tells of a kid from hell there is no supernatural element to it. I was initially quite surprised by how well-written the screenplay was, although the plot loses some of its impetus half-way through as the writer is forced to create progressively unlikely incidents in order to build upon the tension he has already created.

Joshua is a strange boy, bordering on genius, who likes nothing more than pulling the stuffing from his toy panda's nose in emulation of the Ancient Egyptian's method of preparing dead bodies for embalming. He's also pretty good at copying Dad's grief when he mourns over the dead body of the old family dog (who Joshua may or may not have offed while walking in the park). Joshua knows he's weird, and you sense he's frightened that his parents don't love him – or at least won't love him as much now that a baby sister has arrived in the scene. Sneaking a peek at videos of his constant wailing as a baby also does nothing for his frame of mind, and it's not long before he's sneaking in to little sis's room to make her cry the way he used to.

All these scenes are intelligently scripted and handled – as is Joshua's unique piano recital – fooling you into believing you're in for something really special but, while the film is still impressive (and far better than much of the stuff coming out of Hollywood these days), the plot developments become increasingly predictable, while the aim of Joshua's quiet campaign of terror on his parents is something of a mystery initially, and a little far-fetched when revealed in the final scene (which, naturally, leaves the way open for a sequel).

Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, do not expect this story to unfold Hollywood-style. I thought Joshua would be like The Omen but it is more correct to call it a 'psychological thriller' because what's scary in this film is really all in your mind. Thrills come in the uncertainty and expectation of your fears exposed on screen. Joshua doesn't rely on any creepy special effects, so the effectivity only lasts for as long as you expect the worst.

Joshua is about how a weird 9-year old boy (Jacob Kogan) affects his family when his parents (Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga) dote on his newborn sister. At first it seems like he is just acting out his jealousy, but his ultra-proper manner makes the mundane extra creepy.

Kogan looks like Mandy Moore but somehow pulls off the empty and sometimes evil facial expressions necessary for his character. Farmiga impressively transforms from her glam role in The Departed to a mess of a mother undergoing post partum depression. Rockwell as Joshua's father is charming and likable enough and appears to be the only normal one in the entire cast.

The homage to the famous Odessa steps sequence in Battleship Potemkin became at first laughable but jarring soon after.

The story is pretty simple, overstretched and heavily ridden with plot holes but the film is undoubtedly beautifully shot; the intermittent piano playing makes you feel heady even when there is just slice-of-life silence.

Cheesy fight flick tries to bask in the horrific glory which was once Rosemary's Baby and The Omen, but ends up feeling like The Good Son instead. Conceptually, Joshua could have had a lot going for it. Sibling rivalry, which formed the basis of this far-fetched tension, is as good a plot device as any to further the suspense, and at times the darkened bedroom scares elicited from the script do effectively make viewers hold there breath. These moments are so few and far between however, that the inherent comedy beneath this half-baked excursion begins to seep out at an alarming rate, climaxing with one of the worst end scenes in recent memory.

Mainly the scares fail because the lead character, this evil child whom we are supposed to fear, just comes across as silly and unrealistic in nearly every scene. Though his parents might have helped sustain certain scenes a little more (Vera Farmiga in particular stands out as the depressed mother), lead Jacob Kogan is simply unequipped to deliver his role in convincing fashion. From his demeanor to his dress, Joshua is written like a cardboard cutout stereotype of the young eccentric evil genius to a tee, almost always opting for bland, misjudged characterization as opposed to any sort of real personality that might have in fact provided a believable fright.

Obviously, this film was made with some other in mind. The homage it represents for films where kids played a key role in their unsettling plot is, to say the least, outstanding.

You'll find out how deeply involved with "Rosemary's Baby" it is. Or with "The Omen". I won't spill the beans here. You have to watch it. It's a horrific tale. Not a horror film with all the usual gore some want to associate the genre with. This film is horrifying in many senses. And when a film really grabs you, making you think about some personal possibilities, it has accomplished it's goal.

Joshua is a film dealing with so many things it won't disappoint. Crude, raw and cruel, but really telling. Good remake and mix of great horror films, and a new species on its own.

Performances are pretty good. Vera Farmiga is surprisingly good, as Sam Rockwell is, too. Jacob Kogan, apart from being a very good piano player, is a believable and fearsome Joshua.

Pinpoint cinematography, good plot and a very suitable script that keeps the story rolling in ways you could expect and in some others you wouldn't.

I can't believe why some people walked out theatres! There's a catch with this film for American viewers: it's eons away from American traditional movie-making. This film resembles the character exploration of Swedish and French films. So, don't expect a fast paced- spectacular glossy film. It will be a slooooow film for people who just want to have some time off with a popcorn film.