The Prodigy borrows heavily from the many demonic possession movies because-well, why wouldn’t you? If The Exorcist can create sequels and a slew of imitators, why not?īut demons have been done to death, so the screenwriter changed it up a bit. It’s an intriguing premise, but one that’s been done before and therefore the challenge for filmmakers is finding a new way to tell an old story, a way to add a new twist. It’s not just kids, of course many films play off the assumed childish innocence theme, including those featuring seemingly harmless dolls ( Child’s Play and Puppet Master, for example). In this case the story centers on Sarah (Taylor Schilling), a mother whose young son Miles (Jackson Robert Scott) is not only oddly advanced for his age (a blessing) but also seemingly possessed (a curse).
#The prodigy movie plot series#
The genre has a rich and very popular tradition in cinema, including Rosemary’s Baby (1968), The Bad Seed (1956), Village of the Damned (1960), the Omen series (from 1976), The Good Son (1993), Orphan (2009), Hereditary (2018) and many others. The kid starts as a bundle of joy, then bad things happen but no one wants to believe the child did them, then the terror escalates as a parent or caregiver discovers a horrifying secret that leads to a dramatic climax-and a likely sequel. As a new mother grappling with the changes that come along with normal parenthood, fighting to keep her marriage feeling normal, and then placed in an impossible situation while she unravels the mystery of what is actually wrong with her son, Schilling embodies the role.The new horror film The Prodigy is about an evil child, and therefore follows a fairly predictable formula.
Schilling’s performance impresses, as well. If nothing else, go see The Prodigy just for this incredible young actor. He nails the creepy staring, dialogue delivery, and intense violence of a killer while at the same time balancing that with your typical eight-year-old boy. It is difficult to imagine many adult actors being able to achieve the duplicity that Scott does. Even so, the tension in every scene is palpable thanks to Scott, who manages to flip between an innocent eight-year-old boy and a seasoned murderer with incredible ease. The audience knows almost immediately what exactly is wrong with Miles, and it is no surprise to discover that no matter what Sarah’s desperate plans may be to save her son, there is little hope to be found in her situation. However, the mystery of Miles’ unwanted inhabitant is revealed within the film’s first few scenes. The graphic violence is a bit gratuitous at times, but smart cinematography choices make most of the film’s goriest moments feel like necessary parts of the story. With drawn out sequences backed by Jospeh Bishara’s minimalist, eerie score, Miles’ rapid takeover turns up the scare factor. The scene from the film’s initial-now infamous-trailer is enough to make even the most hardened Horror fan fly out of a seat. The film’s initial tagline question (“What’s wrong with Miles?”) is answered early on, that does not necessarily stop the scares from hitting home. When Arthur Jacobson (Colm Feore: House of Cards series, Chicago series) explains to Sarah that rather than having your run-of-the-mill developmental issues, Miles’ may actually be experiencing something more sinister and supernatural.
The young genius is sent to special schools and beloved by his parents until Miles begins to exhibit disturbing character traits like attempting to lure his babysitter into a basement in order to maim her, beating a classmate when Miles does not get his way, or speaking Hungarian in his sleep. When they finally welcome their first son, Miles, into their lives, the young couple is thrilled to find that Miles blows past developmental milestones. Sarah (Schilling) and her husband John (Peter Mooney: Rookie Blue series) tried to start a family for years.