The Child (2012)
4/10
The Child is a waste of your precious time...
10 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
What can be said about this movie? For the people who don't like long reviews I'll save you the effort & just sum it up with the sentence "read the title of this review". I hope that is suffice. Now to people who prefer for me to explain the movie in detail & why I didn't like it, here goes. So the story is set in Germany, why? Who knows, I'm still trying to figure that one out. The plot follows a strange terminally ill boy who claims to have not only been reincarnated but also has vivid memories of his former life as a brutal serial killer. This is never explained. So along comes Robert Stern (Eric Roberts), a big shot defense lawyer who was once the partner of the boy's mother/guardian named Carina (Sunny Mabrey). For whatever convoluted reason, Carina wants Robert to help explore her son's twisted thoughts by uncovering the victims he supposedly killed in his past life. Initially skeptical, Robert quickly jumps on board when the bodies start piling up. I also forgot to mention that he is also being extorted by a mysterious entity who is holding his wife & supposedly dead child captive but it's not worth explaining because it contributed nothing to the overall plot.

So roughly, for the next 90 minutes we watch the boy follow one clue after the next while they begin to uncover a child pedophilia ring. Here is where I give a warning to some sensitive viewers. Pictures of naked children are actually shown in one scene. I couldn't believe my eyes but it's true. Also an old man acts sexually towards the boy as he 'grooms' him for what's to come. I thought it was done in poor taste by the director. However it is a European film so I guess strong sexual themes are to be expected. The second half of the film is a prolonged & bloated mess where there are ridiculous plot twists that extend well beyond the realm of disbelief. Another point to add is that the end credits were 20 MINUTES long. I swear, the film makers must have included half of the German phone directory among the list of credits.

From beginning to end, this movie couldn't decide what plot it wanted. Was it the plot about the terminal kid trying to cope with his impending death; was it the one about Eric Roberts dealing with the death of his newborn or was it a tale about a serial killer who needed two lives to exact his revenge? It's a shame to see decent actors like Eric Roberts and Peter Greene waste their obvious talent on this pointless drivel. Regardless, both of these actors gave solid performances under the conditions & made this film at least mildly bearable to watch.

2/5
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