But, of COURSE the prodigal son of all that is “horror” had to be there for this one! Honestly, the fact that the first “scary” movie of 2019 wasn’t going to take longer than a mere 39 days to release in theaters was in and of itself a win in my book. Sure, as with any movie visit, it could range from being a massive disappointment to surprisingly satisfying; but, I live for the ride and chance to find out. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?!
Aside from watching the trailer for it, I purposefully did not look into what The Prodigy was about because I wanted to go into this viewing with no expectations in order to fully invest in the process of finding out for myself. The audience is immediately treated to a hectic opening series of events that works to get us hooked, much in the way a prologue does. Once the opening title appears on screen, a seemingly disassociated story begins, which is itself just as intriguing, if not more so, but in a different way.
We meet a young boy named Miles (impressively played by Jackson Robert Scott) whose cognitive development is exceptional and remains so as he gets older. However, he begins to display a propensity towards violent behavior for reasons not easily understood. His family tries frantically to determine where his spotty behavior stems from, while Miles’ outbursts become increasingly dangerous. All the while, audience members are left trying to figure out the same and is treated to a handful of “jump scares” that work because of how suddenly certain developments unfold.
The Prodigy’s plot is much more thorough than I instinctively thought it would be, meaning that the lack of gore was a mere afterthought for me. I was honestly driven to try and find answers to why what was happening was happening; and, that dynamic leads to the handful of shock moments working very well. The Prodigy takes certain risks not many “horror” movies do, which is what ultimately stood out to me the most. The culminating confrontations have so much momentum behind them; and, to me, they do NOT disappoint. There is a frantic final series of events that mirrors the beginning, ties things together AND sets the stage rather directly for a sequel, should one ever be made (which I certainly hope it does). Plus, you don’t have to wait around for a post-credits scene to see what I mean.
The Prodigy runs for a very reasonable 90 minutes with very few “boring filler” scenes, making it an even easier watch. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed this film from beginning to end because of the decisions made and chances taken by its creators. And, while I will admit that it does not have to be seen in theaters for viewers to fully appreciate it, it gets a solid four reps out of five from me; and, I am glad I did see it on the big screen. If you enjoyed such films as "The Babadook" (one of my favorite recent horror/suspense/thriller movies out on Netflix), then I think you will enjoy The Prodigy.
Who out there has faced The Prodigy yet? Could you have put up the sort of fight his family did for him?
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