The Good Son

Name: The Good Son
Released: 1993-9-24
Cast: MacAulay Culkin, Elijah Wood, Wendy Crewson, David Morse, Jacqueline Brookes

The Good Son

R
1h 27m
1993

26%

age 15+

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Evil resides in an unexpected place in this suspense-filled drama. Macaulay Culkin stars as Henry, an angelic-looking boy who seems loving and loyal to his parents, sister and friends.

Director:

Joseph Ruben

Producer:

Mary Ann Page, Joseph Ruben

Writer:

Ian McEwan

Cast:

MacAulay Culkin, Elijah Wood, Wendy Crewson, David Morse, Jacqueline Brookes

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

TOMATOMETER®

26%

Critics Consensus: The Good Son is never good enough to live up to its unsettling potential, failing to drum up much suspense and unable to make Macaulay Culkin a credible psychopath.

Reviews

Hartford Courant

Malcolm Johnson

Unhappily, although Ian McEwan's screenplay has its strong points, and Ruben skillfully builds tension and suspense, this updated, gender-bent Bad Seed falters at key points.

Creepy '90s thriller about murderous kid has violence.

I guarantee you this would have been 100% more effective if Wood and Culkin switched roles

June 22, 2017

FULL REVIEW

TV Guide

A second-rate thriller with first-rate production values.

June 21, 2017

FULL REVIEW

Variety

Brian Lowry

This peculiar thriller doesn't deliver enough jolts to leave the audience screaming.

March 4, 2019

Common Sense Media

age 15+

Common Sense Says

Creepy '90s thriller about murderous kid has violence.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that the ironically titled The Good Son is an extremely tense and scary 1993 thriller that borders on the verge of horror. The twist here is the notion that a child can embody murderous evil. Despite the youth of the cast, younger viewers may find the boy's actions too disturbing. A woman's death by illness and a child's death by drowning are mentioned. Someone is pushed off a cliff and a dog is shot with a homemade crossbow. The dog's death is heard but not seen. A boy holds a scissor to another boy's neck. It's implied that a boy has poisoned his family's food. Expect to hear "f--k" and "hell."