The Good Son

1993
18
1h 27m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

47K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer1:13

Psychological Drama Psychological Thriller Drama Thriller

A young boy stays with his aunt and uncle and becomes friends with his cousin, a boy of the same age who shows increasing signs of violent and psychopathic behavior.A young boy stays with his aunt and uncle and becomes friends with his cousin, a boy of the same age who shows increasing signs of violent and psychopathic behavior.A young boy stays with his aunt and uncle and becomes friends with his cousin, a boy of the same age who shows increasing signs of violent and psychopathic behavior.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

47K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,939

697

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations total

Videos2

Photos87

+ 81

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood became very close friends during production, and remain so to this day.

Goofs
When Henry and Mark are climbing the tree at the start of the film, a crew member can be seen, dressed all in black, helping Mark on to the platform.

Quotes
[Susan walks alone with Henry in the woods to talk about Richard]
Susan: Henry?
Henry: Yes, Mom?
Susan: You have to tell me the truth now. What happened the night Richard died?
Henry: Don't you know?
Susan: I'd like to hear it from you.
Henry: I was downstairs playing.
Susan: [Susan gets down in front of Henry's face] Henry, don't lie to me, all right? Just don't lie to me. Now you tell me... Did you kill Richard?
Henry: What if I did?
Susan: Well, um...
Henry: What, Mom?
Susan: We'll get you help.
Henry: You don't look too good, Mom. Looks like you need the help.
Susan: You have to trust me, Henry.
Henry: No. No, I can't. You just want to send me away, don't you?
Susan: Why, no. No, I don't.
Henry: You wanna put me in one of those places.
Susan: No, Henry.
Henry: Well, I'd much rather die, you hear me? I'd much rather be dead!
Susan: Henry! Henry, no!
[Susan runs after Henry into the woods]
Susan: Henry? Henry!
Susan: [Susan runs to the cliff of the hill where Henry might've jumped off] Henry! Henry! Henry!
Henry: [Henry comes walking up behind Susan] Looking for me, Mom?
Susan: Oh, Henry.
Henry: You really thought I was going to jump, huh? I guess you don't know me very well, Mom.
[Henry runs to take a dash into Susan]

Alternate versions
The 1995 UK video version was cut by 33 secs by the BBFC to edit shots of Henry and Mark dropping a lifelike human dummy into a stream of traffic to cause a motorway pile-up, as this was considered a dangerous imitable technique. The cuts were waived for the 2002 version.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Striking Distance/Into the West/The Age of Innocence/Household Saints/Baraka (1993)

User reviews198

Featured review

7/10

Very well made psycho-thriller

THE GOOD SON is one of many psycho-thrillers that were made in the early 1990s in the wake of the success of the likes of FATAL ATTACTION, BASIC INSTINCT and THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE. Most of these could be easily categorised by the type of person who was the villain, i.e. 'bad cop' (UNLAWFUL ENTRY), 'bad neighbour' (PACIFIC HEIGHTS), 'bad husband' (SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY). THE GOOD SON is, as you'd guess from the title, about a bad kid.

Said kid is Macauley Culkin, a wonderful piece of casting against type by the producers. So long we've had to put up with Culkin in his sickly-sweet roles but here he portrays somebody very different indeed and, inevitably, this turns out to be the best performance of his career. Culkin is excellent, truly portraying a character beyond his years, and he helps to make the movie.

It helps that everything else is right, too. The script focuses on realism throughout, and there's plenty of characterisation to make the viewer feel truly grounded in the experience. Aside from the ending, things don't get over the top with the style or direction. There are a handful of set-pieces which really work (like the bit with the bridge), and some incredible stunt work that left me breathless, like the whole bit with the tree house. As somebody with a fear of heights, such moments turned my legs to jelly.

Elijah Wood made a point of appearing in plenty of twee kid's films during the 1990s (FREE WILLY anyone?) but this is one of his most interesting movies from that decade. David Morse is typically good as Wood's father. The script stays grounded throughout, the psychological insight is as interesting as the thriller aspects of the story, and it all finishes in a satisfying way that goes against Hollywood convention. Good stuff.