Joshua (2007)

Director:

George Ratliff

Writers:

David Gilbert (written by) and
George Ratliff (written by)

Release Date:

19 September 2007 (Philippines)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The story of a perfect boy who had a perfect plan.

Plot:

The arrival of a newborn girl causes the gradual disintegration of the Cairn family; particularly for 9-year-old Joshua (Kogan), an eccentric boy whose proper upbringing and refined tastes both take a sinister turn. |

Plot Keywords:

New York Skyline | Psycho Thriller | New York City | Psychological | Kitchen Scene

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sam Rockwell	...	Brad Cairn
Vera Farmiga	...	Abby Cairn
Celia Weston	...	Hazel Cairn
Dallas Roberts	...	Ned Davidoff
Michael McKean	...	Chester Jenkins
Jacob Kogan	...	Joshua Cairn
Nancy Giles	...	Betsy Polsheck
Linda Larkin	...	Ms. Danforth
Alex Draper	...	Stewart Slocum
Stephanie Roth Haberle	...	Pediatrician
Ezra Barnes	...	Fred Solomon
Jodie Markell	...	Ruth Solomon
Rufus Collins	...	Henry Abernathy
Haviland Morris	...	Monique Abernathy
Tom Bloom	...	Joe Cairn
Antonia Stout	...	Museum Staffer
Randy Ryan	...	Soccer Dad
Evan Seligman	...	Soccer Teammate
Patrick Henney	...	Singing Boy
Gurdeep Singh	...	Cabbie
Nicholas Guidry	...	Bike Messenger
Darrill Rosen	...	Homeless Man
Daniel Jenkins	...	Minister
Erik Solky	...	Park Patron
Shianne Kolb	...	Lily Cairn
Lacey Vill	...	Lily Cairn

Directed by
George Ratliff

Writing credits
David Gilbert		(written by) and
George Ratliff		(written by)

Produced by
Johnathan Dorfman	....	producer
Thomas Fatone	....	associate producer
Temple Fennell	....	executive producer
Dan O'Meara	....	executive producer
George Paaswell	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Nico Muhly

Cinematography by
Benoît Debie		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jacob Craycroft

Casting by
Patricia Kerrigan DiCerto

Production Design by
Roshelle Berliner

Art Direction by
Katya DeBear

Set Decoration by
Amanda Carroll

Costume Design by
Astrid Brucker

Makeup Department
Colleen Callaghan	....	hair designer
John Jack Curtin	....	assistant hair stylist
Joseph Farulla	....	assistant makeup artist
Sharon Ilson	....	key makeup artist
Joseph Whitmeyer	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Bergen Swanson	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Thomas Fatone	....	first assistant director
Patrick Gibbons	....	second assistant director
Kim Thompson	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Shannon Finnerty	....	on-set dresser
Yolan Fisher	....	property master
Dan Kajeckas	....	charge scenic artist
Ronnie Petagna	....	carpenter
Bentley Wood	....	assistant property master
Derek J.W. Wybourn	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Tom Efinger	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Efinger	....	sound supervisor
David Ellinwood	....	dialogue editor
Anguibe Guindo	....	additional boom operator
Ken Ishii	....	sound mixer
John Moros	....	adr engineer
Abigail Savage	....	sound effects editor
Craig Spencer	....	foley editor
Julie Wilde	....	boom operator

Stunts
Manny Siverio	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Abraham Altbuch	....	grip
Aida Artieda	....	grip
Mark Beattie	....	generator operator
Manuel Billeter	....	camera operator
Luis Colon	....	best boy grip
Caswell Cooke	....	key grip
Dylan Crawshay-Williams	....	grip
Jess Fogel	....	electrician
Shawn Greene	....	gaffer
Ludovic Littee	....	assistant camera
Nick Maczka	....	additional grip
Matthew Mendelson	....	electrician
Sebastien Nicolet	....	camera trainee
Jeff Niggemeyer	....	electrician
Ray Richards	....	additional electrician
Daniel D. Sariano	....	assistant camera
Randy Schwartz	....	additional assistant camera
Yoshi Sonoda	....	additional grip
Sean Taylor	....	electrician
Vance Tucker	....	third grip
Brett Walters	....	assistant camera
Trevor Watrous	....	grip
JoJo Whilden	....	still photographer
Yueni Zander	....	assistant camera

Casting Department
Lois J. Drabkin	....	casting associate
Sylvia Fay	....	extras casting
Lee Genick	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Diana J. Collins	....	wardrobe supervisor
Jacci Fredenburg	....	assistant costume designer
Lucia Lettini	....	set costumer
Jan Finnell	....	costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Kenny Becker	....	color timer
Matthew H. Giordano	....	assistant editor
Stan Sztaba	....	negative matcher

Music Department
Mikael Carlsson	....	executive soundtrack producer

Other crew
Michael A. Becker	....	production assistant
Nate Braeuer	....	location assistant
Betty Chin	....	production coordinator
Amyjoy Clark	....	payroll accountant
Jeremy Crane	....	assistant production coordinator
Joe Dapello	....	production counsel
Anne Marie Dentici	....	production assistant
Vadim Epstein	....	key production assistant
Kantarama Gahigiri	....	production assistant
William Gilfillan	....	accounting clerk
Trish Gray	....	location scout
Michelle Israel	....	production assistant
Jeffrey Longo	....	office production assistant
Brent Lyman	....	production assistant
Alex Paster	....	set/office intern
Morgan Patterson	....	production assistant
Kevin Pazmino	....	set production assistant
Ryan Smith	....	location manager
Natalie Swan	....	stand-in: Vera Farmiga
Kathleen Truitt	....	stand-in
Marisa Vrooman	....	assistant location manager
Noreen Ward	....	production accountant
Sharon Watt	....	script supervisor
Steven Weisz	....	stand-in
Danielle Wilson	....	craft service
Tim Wilson	....	stand-in: Sam Rockwell
Rose Zingale	....	stand-in: Joshua

Thanks
Ami Armstrong	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• ATO Pictures

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2008) (Argentina) (all media)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Gativideo (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Maple Pictures (2007) (Canada) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• MovieScore Media  soundtrack
• Sylvia Fay/ Lee Genick & Associates Casting  extras casting
• United Talent Agency (UTA)  sales

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R (certificate #43401) | Germany:16 | New Zealand:M | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA (2007) | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

ATO Pictures

Trivia:

The note that Joshua leaves for his father reads: "Dad,/Eaten lunch already/and gone to/The Brooklyn Museum of Art/having fun with Nunu and Lily." If you arrange the first letter of each line in order, it reveals an acrostic for "Death."

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The video tape Joshua pulls from the drawer to watch is dated 2/29/1997. 1997 was not a leap year.

Quotes:

Joshua Cairn: I'll give you five dollars if you let me throw a rock at you.

Movie Connections:

References Bronenosets Potyomkin (1925)

Problematic Child

Those who hyped "Joshua" prior to its theatrical run bandied about the names of Hitchcock and Polanski in an attempt to sell an art film that, while well-made and rife with fantastic performances, never transcends its own lack of purpose. Yes, this is one of those films that raises its nose at the very notion of "evil kid" flicks while playing into their conventions without shame. Nine-year old Joshua Cairn (Jacob Kogan) is a prodigy who excels at school and is already exhibiting the traits of a master manipulator; when his new baby sister comes home, he sets into motion a plan to erase her from the picture, but not before driving parents Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby (Vera Farmiga) off the deep end. While the child's motives are only vaguely hinted at, it's strongly implied that he's enacting vengeance for the affection he never received as an infant (and thus transformed him into an unfeeling pod-kiddie). Director/co-writer George Ratliff shows a flair for mining tension from plot turns that are fairly mechanical, and builds a sense of pervasive unease that, till the thoroughly telegraphed denouement, is a modest echo of Polanski's "apartment trilogy." The adult performers are excellent, with Rockwell ("The Green Mile") and Farmiga ("The Departed") absolutely convincing as the well-meaning parents whose lives descend out of control (even if it's hard to believe they wouldn't have had Joshua committed years before); Rockwell possesses a fine mix of fatherly devotion and paranoia, and Farmiga's psychologically damaged mother is sympathetic and nigh tragic. If there's a problematic performance here, it's Kogan's, whose Joshua is an overly mannered, blank-eyed moppet whose dialog and mannerisms transform him into more of a plot contrivance than a character (since he's the film's pivot point, we have to suffer through his awkward dissertations on death and Egyptian mythology); it's as though Ratliff and co-writer David Gilbert, having already named the film after this "enfant terrible," needed to blare his obvious weirdness in our faces. "Joshua" may be the new kid on the block, but he pales in comparison to "The Omen" and "The Good Son."