Case 39 (2009) User Reviews

Cold creepy mood

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 27 October 2014]

Emily Jenkins (Renée Zellweger) is an overworked social worker with 38 active cases. She's forced to take on another. Ten year-old Lillith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland) has been suffering. Emily suspects mistreatment from her parents (Callum Keith Rennie, Kerry O'Malley). Her parents try to cook her in the oven. Emily is able to save her just in time with the help of Detective Mike Barron (Ian McShane). She is placed under psychiatric observation of Emily's best friend, Doug Ames (Bradley Cooper). Despite not being mom material, Emily takes care of Lillith temporarily. The problem is that Lillith isn't as innocent as she seems to be.

There is a cold creepiness to the movie. It leaves the movie simmering at a slow boil for much of the movie. That's fine by me. I like the reserved moody tone. It's telling the audience that something is wrong without hitting them over the head with it. The movie uses a lot of blues to flattens the mood and chill the movie. I guess most people get tired of the slow boil but I like director Christian Alvart's sense of style. The story isn't the most exciting and there isn't really a mystery. The demon child can be seen from a mile away. Jodelle Ferland is an expert at that character. Renée Zellweger is able to hold the movie together. There is a good old-fashion creepiness about this.

A surprise scary movie with two terrific performances

[secondtake · 7/10 · 29 January 2011]

Case 39 (2009)

The clever plot isn't quite clever enough to keep you going through the whole movie, but almost. And both Renee Zellwegger as the passionate and trapped social worker and Jodelle Ferland as the adorable but mysterious child are quite amazing. Both are actors at the best of their powers, Zellwegger limited only by the role and the writing, which is very good but not quite flexible enough to let her show as many of those perplexed and touching nuances she is so good at (seen equally in "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Nurse Betty"). But it's possible Ferland has the role of her life here. She's not only playing a precocious child, but is clearly a precocious young actress, bright, expressive, surprising, and not merely cute. By the way she was fifteen when it was filmed, even though she looks and acts, in most ways, like she's ten.

You can't ignore the plot, of course, since this is a plot driven movie saved by two great actresses, not the other way around. And the story is a little bit of a formula with a twist. The twist is good, but it is singular. Eventually we are carried from a personal and social drama with some evil people to a supernatural drama. It's here where things get scariest, but also where things wobble slightly in terms of believability or logic, if logic has any place here. For example, once the antagonist is shown to have really limitless powers of some kind (possibly imaginary), why does this person not have the power to just kill someone out and out? There is dangled the idea that this bad force depends on fear to proceed, but this isn't developed clearly, or maybe you have to see it twice to get.

On the other hand, if you just go with the flow, it's really increasingly scary. There are some scenes, like the woman in the hospital room that turns into a kind of large oven, that are chilling and really well done. Certainly Zellwegger's character is able to find the outlines of logic as she tries to survive by outsmarting the situation, and we're on her side. Eventually it comes to a dramatic climax, and it's pretty exciting. A sleeper, for sure.

Definitely a case of peaks and valleys.

[IheartCali5882 · 7/10 · 6 November 2010]

I found it somewhat difficult to rate this film in all honesty. Some elements are surprisingly good, while others are just cliché'd and melodramatic. I enjoyed it overall and would have given it an 8/9 had there not been various glaring inconsistencies that were impossible for me to ignore. I've never been one to overly obsess about plot holes or implausibilities, but at times Case 39 doesn't even bother to follow the rules that it's made for itself.

Renee Zellweger plays Emily, a child protective services worker, who ultimately saves a 10 year old girl, Lilly from her abusive parents. She takes a maternal interest in Lilly but problems arise shortly after having removed the girl from her home. At this point, even if you haven't seen the trailer (I didn't), you can guess where the story is headed. This is not a problem because it works in the films favor. The tension and buildup are excellent as we wait for Renee to catch up to where we are. We know what's going to happen and so it creates an uneasiness that stays with us throughout the entirety of the film. There are some genuinely creepy moments ( I think I counted 3), and a host of other cheap "jumpy" scenes that sometimes work and sometimes don't. The movie managed to catch me off guard a couple times, and seeing as how I'm a huge horror buff, I'd say that's impressive. More times than not, I can anticipate a scare, but there were some scenes that had me on edge.

The acting is adequate amongst all the principal characters, the direction choppy in places, the look of the film is beautiful. Once again I just had a problem with the factors that didn't add up. For instance, if a character is what the film says it is, then why can't it get itself out of the situation that occurs at the end of the film? By definition of what this character is, the laws that confine "normal" people shouldn't apply to it, right? Also the explanation for what "it" wants is very unclear and flimsy at best. Without a clear understanding of the motivation, without an answer to "WHY?", it left me feeling a little unstable about the whole story.

All in all, it's still a great way to spend a couple hours if you can spare them. I consider it money well spent. If nothing else, you will definitely be entertained.

A good light horror film

[filipemanuelneto · 7/10 · 3 May 2021]

In this film, a dedicated social worker who works to protect minors will come across a case that initially appears to be violence and domestic abuse. She is not sure what is really going on in that family, but her instinct and experience tell her that there is something very wrong with those parents. And the suspicions are confirmed when, alerted by the girl, she finds her parents ready to kill her in the oven. Months later, she obtains the girl's provisional custody, but just a few weeks of living together will be enough for her to begin to see that this girl may not be as innocent as she looks, and that something truly sinister is going on with her.

Horror films in which children are the central element of the plot are nothing new. We had classics like "Village of the Damned", "The Omen" and the entire "Children of the Corn" franchise, not to mention the more recent films like "The Orphan". However, they are still delicious and appealing, when they are really well done. The film has an interesting story, which unfolds at a good pace, without twists, subterfuges or stratagems to amplify the suspense, and everything suffers from a certain degree of predictability. However, the film benefits from the good construction of the characters, especially the protagonist, a social worker who soon conquers us with her dedication and good intentions, and holds our attention until the end.

In fact, the excellent performances of Renee Zellweger and young Jodelle Ferland are essential for the quality and strength of the final product. Zellweger had already shown us, in several previous works, to be an actress of great talent and versatility, but she manages to take the film on her back, while Ferland was able to overcome her inexperience and youth to give us a colossal job. For a child actress, she even looks like an adult, as threatening and calculating as she can be. The film also features the work of Ian McShane and Bradley Cooper, safe bets on the supporting characters.

The film is not particularly remarkable in terms of production values and technical issues. Cinematography is standard, but it works quite well and is effective, adapting well and helping to build the light tension felt during the film. Some scenes in particular (such as the sinking car scene or the fire) were brilliantly shot, but there is a greater sense of danger. The sets and costumes are everything we could hope for, without surprises or major problems. The editing and the soundtrack do their job discreetly.

A suspenseful film, full of threat and uncertainty

[Gordon-11 · 22 January 2010]

This film is about a social worker taking a young girl into her home, as the girl's parents tried to kill her.

Though Renee Zellweger is not particularly convincing as a social worker, she conveys her feeling of threat very well, making her stressed out character vivid. The plot is good, as at first it makes you feel so sympathetic and sorry for the girl, then it slowly prepares you for something entirely different. The story is so engaging and scary, that I wanted to see more of what's going to happen, yet I wanted to see less because it's scary. "Case 39" is successful in creating a suspenseful atmosphere, full of threat and uncertainty. I don't know why "Case 39" is having trouble getting distribution and and a release date, as I find it a very scary horror film.

Scary Horror Film that Deserved a Better and Darker Ending

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 26 August 2010]

The dedicated social assistant of child service Emily Jenkins (Renée Zellweger) has a huge backlog of cases of abused children to take care. However, her chief Wayne (Adrian Lester) delivers two more cases for her and Emily heads to interview the family of Lilith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland), the young abused daughter of Edward Sullivan (Callum Keith Rennie) and Margaret Sullivan (Kerry O'Malley). Emily finds the parents very weird persons and forces Wayne to summon them for additional interviews. Emily connects to the sweet Lilith and during the night, she feels that the girl would be in danger and together with Detective Barron (Ian McShane), they invade the Sullivan's house and find the couple trying to burn Lilith inside the oven. Lilith is sent to a child care and she asks Emily to adopt her. Emily requests to take care of Lilith and the girl moves to her house. Sooner Emily learns that Lilith is not as innocent as she seems to be.

"Case 39" is a scary horror film with great screenplay and performances. The bleak story begins in the direction of a drama, and out of the blue shifts to a suspenseful psychological horror film as has some common aspects with "Orphan". The end is not bad with the victory of the good, but this film deserved a better and darker ending. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Caso 39" ("Case 39")

Predictable, but...

[aqos-1 · 6/10 · 11 January 2010]

This is a movie we have seen before just written in different ways. A girl is suspected of being abused and the case worker takes a very personal interest in her. When the parents are removed from the situation, the girl begs for the love of the social worker, which she gets. Renee Zellweger does a decent job in this movie. I would not call it a horror movie. It is suspenseful, but nothing I thought was overly horrific. The little girl does a brilliant job playing the victim. Predictable, the social worker takes this child into her home pending placement elsewhere and finds that this little girl is not quite what she seems. She seeks out different methods to deal with the problem, but it ultimately ends up just like I thought it would. Not the worst movie ever made.

When there's no surprise, there's no reason to keep watching. . .

[Shattered_Wake · 4/10 · 2 January 2011]

Renée Zellweger stars in her first horror film in 15 years (her last one being 1994's 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation') as Emily Jenkins, a social worker who is given Case 39, a file containing a child abuse case involving a young girl named Lilith (Jodelle Ferland). As the case goes on, Emily becomes fond of Lilith and eventually decides to adopt her after Lilith's parents try to murder her. Emily, however, begins to notice strange happenings occurring around Lilith that cannot be explained.

One major issue that comes from any "big twist" type of movie is the problems with predictability. If a viewer figures out the whole secret of the film, nothing but boredom will ensue. 'Case 39' is one film that greatly suffered from this problem. The entire movie can be figured out within the first few frames of the film. From that point on, it becomes a clock-watching game until the final act when the "surprise" is supposed to be revealed. Typically, this problem can be made more bearable with an interesting cast of characters or some creative filmmaking. 'Case 39,' however, has nothing to rescue viewers from the boredom. Throw in some bad CGI, some unthrilling action sequences, and a thoroughly typical finale, and we have ourselves 'Case 39.'

Final Verdict: 4/10.

-AP3-

loved it

[Khiari187 · 9/10 · 9 March 2010]

After having been let down by many films recently this, and then newly released Triangle, have been a welcome release.

Everything in Case 39 is at least very good. Renne Zellweger is excellent as the empathic, Emily Jenkins. Really perfectly cast for the role and gives the film an underlying security, which for me at least, was needed. The young actress,Jodelle Ferland, is generally really good and at times, show stealing. She is in fact superb as the rather troubled youngster.. The chemistry between the two leads is what compliments what is a rather twisted but truly fantastic story.

The story paces itself perfectly and draws you into its sphere of horror with a soft hand and kicks you out with a firm smack at the end. The only sad thing is a lack of replay value. I just wish i could go back and watch it for the first time all over again..

Chilling and enchanting horror film, a must see

Actually pretty good.

[Glen_Quagmire · 7/10 · 20 January 2010]

I checked this movie out after watching a trailer online and I gotta say, it delivered. It was a nice little surprise for this major horror fan. It didn't rely on the "jump scare" which so many horror movies depend on lately, although it had a few. It created a very creepy atmosphere that stayed til the very end. Given, this movie could've supported better acting (I'm looking at you, Renee) and directing but if you're looking to be entertained and a little creeped out for 90 minutes then check it out. It runs in the tradition of movies like "The Reaping" and "Orphan" where the child in the movie makes you feel a little uneasy the entire time. Defiitely one of the better straight to DVD movies in awhile. If you are a horror fan then this movie should put an evil lil grin on your bloody face. However, if you stray more towards romcoms and drama then go rent Love Actually or some other random terrible movie.

Case Closed

[Ali_John_Catterall · 1/10 · 16 August 2009]

Horror movie subjects, like celebrity deaths and buses, come in threes. Thus, trailing behind the latest rash of 'Bad Seed' pictures 'The Unborn' and 'Orphan' like some sulky teenager on a family holiday, comes the Renée Zellweger-starring Case 39 - another apparent anti-adoption screed from the director of 'Pandorum'. Clearly, Philip Larkin got it back to front, and Cyril Connolly was onto something: they screw you up, kids, especially other people's kids, while that pram in the hall almost certainly contains 57 varieties of pain. And little girls, of course, are absolutely terrifying. That's why Stanley Kubrick used not one but two of them in 'The Shining.'

The latest threat to homeland security is sad-eyed moppet Lillith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland). Despite whimpering that her hollow-eyed, crucifix-clasping parents "talk about sending me to Hell", Lillith's lank black hair is scraped back and tucked behind her ears, which everyone knows is movie shorthand for 'sneaky 'n' weird'. She also tilts her head sideways when she speaks, which even brain-damaged pitbulls dimly appreciate is the internationally-recognised symbol for 'run, run like the wind'. Now you mention it, she also shares a name with Frasier Crane's ex-wife, in turn named after a Hebrew storm demon associated with death, darkness and vengeance. All of which is lost on lentils-for-brains social worker Emily Jenkins (Renée Zellweger), who hauls her out of the kitchen oven after her folks attempt to bake her alive.

In a move even the filmmakers realise stretches credibility to twanging point, Emily temporarily adopts Lillith while she waits to be re-housed with foster parents who won't mistake her for a birthday cake. Unfortunately for Emily, what Lillith wants, Lillith gets. And what she really wants right now is an ice cream. Not just today, every day. See, this witchy cuckoo also possesses the ability to make people see and experience their own worst fears. So you'd better hurry up with that 99 Flake.

Before the first hour's up, Em's other cases and colleagues are slaughtering their slumbering parents with a tyre iron or being pestered to death by a plague of CGI hornets, vomited out of their every orifice. Meanwhile Em's barricading herself in her bedroom every night and attempting to burn her own house down, with the satanic little charge inside. "A damaged, deceitful, manipulative child is *not* a demon," insists grizzled, perma-tanned detective Mike Barron (Ian McShane). But can Emily convince her Barron knight that Lillith has got the very devil in her?

It sure seems as if Hollywood likes kicking foster kids under the table, judging by the haste with which Case 39 follows the controversial Orphan into the multiplexes. Or maybe the movie business has just put its finger on a hot topic of the day: horror movies are always monkeying around with contemporary fears and prejudices (it makes their case stronger). But is the concept of adoption actually becoming anathema to North Americans?

This July the Washington Post reported that the number of foster children being adopted in D.C. was "falling precipitously". And if a former Child and Family Services Agency staffer suggested "difficult cases" (over-twelves; siblings who didn't want to be separated) as possible causes, a pro-bono lawyer claimed "the District frequently reduces the annual subsidy" for those deciding to adopt their foster children. Could there be some kind of 'anti-adoption conspiracy' at work?

No, just plain old economics: originally slated for release in August 2008, then subsequently held back twice, Case 39 has been forlornly gathering cobwebs in the proverbial filing cabinet for over a year. Understandably so - it's terrible. We'd be embarrassed too. Former Oscar-winner Zellweger hasn't made a decent feature in years, and this is no trend-bucker. So it's not hard to figure out that when its producers saw Orphan cleaning up, thanks in part to the hype accrued via some knee-jerk lobbying (and - what a gift - a letter to Warner Brothers by concerned senators and congressmen who predictably hadn't even seen the movie in question), they quickly threw their own killer kid flick out with the trash. (Or rather they haven't - when this review was first written, Case 39 was going to be released any minute. Now, they've put it back AGAIN, for around the 6th time. Probably waiting to see how well Christian Alvart's Pandorum does first. Prediction: that'll bomb too. So, fellas, just how long do you think you can keep this up for?)

And make no mistake, Case 39 is diabolical; a laughable, wooden, hideously derivative pile of steaming demon poo. Horror films aren't exactly dainty when it comes to relieving other movies of their valuables, but Case 39 just ram-raids them out of the store: hell hounds (not to mention an entire premise) swiped from 'The Omen'; buckling, banging doors half-inched from 'The Haunting'; demonic possessions (and a friendly cop) purloined from 'The Exorcist'; a blight of stripey insects lifted from 'Candyman'; and accursed phone calls filched from J-Horror 'One Missed Call.'

Case 39 also asks for any number of other offences to be taken into consideration. While judging by the presence of Ian McShane and Adrian Lester, it has also pilfered its cast (hilariously and self-defeatingly billed in 'order of prominence') from a cosy BBC Sunday teatime drama. Bless our British actors all, but that's not a line-up that immediately inspires confidence in a horror movie: Bridget Jones and Lovejoy, together at last.

Brilliant

[mrmovie-30033 · 10/10 · 18 November 2016]

First ignore the haters who hate on the movie due to the fact it ain't your usual horror There's no gore it's not a slasher it's a thriller that simple not a horror Now as for the movie I am not a Renee Zellweger fan Hell I most likely spelt her name wrong In fact her movies bore me to tears but this was brilliant It was suspenseful thriller that delivered the acting was brilliant The young girl was terrifying you must watch it

As for the morons on here saying its predictable what are you smoking It's anything but predictable the movie tells you the girl isn't a helpless little sweetheart It says in the movie description there's more to this girl then meets the eye It just goes to prove the ignorance of some people You know from the start that there's something different about this girl It tells you that in the bloody movies description

As for the movie A social worker fights to save a girl from abusive parents only to discover Soon after taking her in that this girl isn't what she thinks

It's a brilliant movie ignore the ignorant comments watch this movie

Decent enough horror movie

[Veskanderrai · 7/10 · 2 November 2009]

The movie, as a horror movie, delivers what it promises, which is scaring people. It is however not without its flaws.

As an above reviewer already stated Renee Zellweger is not a great actress for these types of movies, but it's not something that should bother you during the duration of the movie.

Another flaw is the use of what I tend to call gratuitous scares. What do I mean by that you may ask. These are scares that are provoked by suddenly letting a barking dog jump against a window when the main character is standing there or by letting a coworker pop up next to the protagonist when she's sitting down. However effective they may be, they are not scares relevant to the story and they tend to irritate me because they take the focus of the main story, mostly because the main story has little volume.

This is lucky not the case here. The acting of the "evil" by the little girl is very well done. If I had a child before me like that, I'm sure I wouldn't be too comfortable by him/her.

***SPOILER*** For the rest part the story is good enough to keep you going although I would have preferred a non Hollywoodian ending because that would have been more "realistic" if the girl was really possessed by an ancient demon. ***SPOILER***

But all in all a good movie to spend your evening on.

Just terrible.

[miasisyphus · 1/10 · 3 October 2010]

Normally I wouldn't review a movie I didn't like, but I'm just considering this a warning to any horror fan who thought Case 39 looked interesting. This movie relied on cheap jump scares (an alarm clock!), had no real atmosphere, spooky or otherwise. There were some worthwhile characters, like Bradley Cooper and Emily's cop friend. The protagonist was poorly cast and the actress was just plain bad. The little demon girl was alright, but she didn't terrify me (at all) and she had the annoying ability of being able to do almost anything she wanted,including escape a burning house in a new outfit, but not the trunk of a sinking car. Even though there were parts of this movie that were very funny (unintentionally, I believe), over all this movie was too long and just wouldn't end.

Why you should and shouldn't see Case 39

[glenjordanspangler · 3 October 2011]

The beginning intrigued me. What is the entity in question, and why is it tormenting Lilith, and her parents before her? Why do the parents blame Lilith when she is clearly a victim? This is the main thing Case 39 has going for it: you won't know at first what type of movie it will end up being. Later in the film, though, it has chosen its bag of clichés and sticks to them. Which bag? Ah, that would be telling.

This being said, the common devices director Alvart chooses for the film still work, and Ferland (Lilith) does a good job in a demanding role for a girl who was twelve or thirteen years old when the movie was completed, on 2007. It was finally released in October of 2010, the month of Ferland's sixteenth birthday.

Why you should see it You enjoy things, other than your annoying upstairs neighbor, that go "bump" in the night. You still find Zellweger to be as adorable as she was the first time she said "you had me at hello," and not nearly as annoying as that line became upon its 300th repetition. You like your paranormal phenomena to surround pale, creepy kids.

Why you shouldn't see it You're terribly afraid of hornets, heights, shotguns, ovens, carving knives, bodies of water, forks, and blunt objects, and you don't feel up to confronting all of these phobias within the space of two hours.

With pizza and beer - quite tasty.

[micz81 · 6/10 · 22 February 2010]

It's a decent movie. I liked very much some cinematographic concepts cleverly used here to build solid tension, and mystery effect. We are used to very straight way of telling very straight stories, but sometimes it's good to move the camera off the basics a little (even if the story isn't very original), just to tell something more by the picture, than only what the picture depicts. Mr Bogdanski (DP) and Mr Alvart (DIR) have used some of those "tricks" carefully and wisely, gaining few disturbing shots which actually describe the feel of the whole movie. The story is simple, predictable, and has the "yep, I've seen this before" factor, but THOSE few (yes, only few) weird shots puts this movie slightly above the average. And there are Callum Keith Rennie, Kerry O'Malley and Ian McShane who work in the same business here with DP and Director - giving very intense and disturbing appearances in supporting, yet the movie tone establishing roles (especially Rennie not being too demonic). I'm glad that screenplay had provided them few very good sequences to play in.

But let's be frank - that's not enough to break the limits. We have to remember some major flaws: First - the movie is very predictable. Very. Second - Jodelle Ferland plays in a simple, cheap way, using far away easier acting methods, than her character needs. Third - a promise of originality made by DP and Director in the first part of the movie, is never kept because of the second half, where everything is put in WYSIWYG manner, known from shitty Hollywood.

Summing all up - You CAN watch it with a pizza and a beer, but hardly believable that you WILL manage without those. :)

Not Scary, but you will jump some

[bob-rutzel-1 · 7/10 · 13 January 2011]

Social Worker Emily (Zellweger) takes in 10-yr old Lillith (Ferland) whose parents tried to kill her.

Things kind of get wrapped up within the first 15-minutes and what else is there to do you ask yourself. Well, things aren't quite what they seem and by now, you will have figured it all out. But, again, it's in the telling that makes this a good movie and you stay with it.

This is billed as a horror movie and you know I don't review horror movies (hey, I have to sleep at night). Okay, so I took a chance. See? The acting is first rate by all and the pace is very good. There is a certain amount of tension and suspense and you won't sleep here.

Now, although you have figured things out, you have not figured out how this ends or should end, or will end …..whatever. That occupies your mind quite a bit. And, along the way, you find yourself jumping at certain things. Not really horror though, but could have been.

Renee Zellweger really got into her character to such a point I was mimicking her moves at times. I felt as though I was there. You'll see.

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes, but only one or two F-bombs

Evil Talosian

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 20 February 2011]

The person that social worker Renee Zellweger is investigating in Case 39 is Jodelle Ferland an innocent little girl seemingly who seems to be crying out for intervention. The humanitarian instincts of Zellweger necessary for her occupation are aroused and she and cop Ian McShane go to the house just in time to rescue the little girl from her parents, Callum Keith Rennie and Kerry McCallum from roasting her in their oven, the kind of horrific crime that every now and then you see splashed across your evening news.

Zellweger breaks the usual bounds of professional distance when she takes it on herself to take in the child. Once she does the little girl proves not quite what she originally seems and literally sucks the humanitarianism out of her.

This will go completely over the people who are not Star Trek fans, but young Ms. Ferland reminded me so much of an evil Talosian. If you will recall in that famous pilot for Star Trek, the Talosians are blessed with the power of illusion, they can make you see and hear all kinds of things that are not there. With that they can trick you into stuff. There not evil people however, but Captain Christopher Pike when he's captured by them has to learn their secret in order to triumph.

That's what Renee has to do, overcome the power of illusion. How it all works out for her is what you have to see Case 39 for.

As for the film itself, Case 39 is a cut above a lot of these horror films, but it could have used considerable improvement in the storytelling.

Playing with the Devil

[gradyharp · 5/10 · 11 January 2011]

CASE 39 starts out as an interesting drama, becomes tense and frightening as any good horror movie should, and then sells out in the end with simply too many special effects for the sake of inducing nightmares in the audience to retain its potential stature as a very fine Grand Guignol film.

Emily (Renée Zellweger) is an overworked but committed family problems case worker, investigating homes that seem to breed dysfunctional children. She has some fine associates - psychologist Doug (Bradley Cooper in a fine performance), case manager Wayne (Adrian Lester), and detective Mike Barron (Ian McShane). Emily takes on Case 39, a 10 year old child Lily (Jodelle Ferland) who seems to be terrified of her parents. Emily visits the home, befriends Lily, then discovers that Lily's parents - especially father (Callum Keith Sullivan) - are attempting to kill her. The parents are arrested and placed in a mental institution and out of a sense of duty and caring Emily manages to become the temporary foster parent of the deeply disturbed Lily. It seems Lily has strange powers and those powers include discovering the basic fears of those around her and playing on those fears in a manner that has disastrous results. As Emily grows to understand Lily she sees the connection with evil incarnate and the remainder of the film is how Emily and the world deal with this creature from the dark world.

Each of the actors makes the most of a script that has far too many holes in it: it seems that the writer (Ray Wright) and director (Christian Alvart) couldn't decide on whether they wanted to create a truly terrifying psychological drama or simply go off the deep end and opt for over the top CGI effects. Zellweger manages to find fine screen chemistry with Cooper and McShane, but that doesn't make up for the seemingly endless chaos the film elects as its center. Good potential - should have been re-edited.

Grady Harp

Scared The Living Hell Out Of Me

[chicagopoetry · 9/10 · 10 February 2010]

Renée Zellweger is perfect as the horror movie queen being terrorized by a little girl who has been taken into state custody but who also just so happens to be possessed by a demon in the movie Case 39. From hornets crawling out of eye sockets to an attack by a crazy woman with burns all over her face to demon dogs straight out of the original movie The Omen to monstrous claw-hands popping out of all sorts of unexpected places ala end scene of Carrie, this no holds barred shocker will have you jumping out of your seat at least a half dozen times before it is all over. This is much scarier than the movie The Orphan. Fifteen-year-old Jodelle Micah, who has an unbelievable resume of acting credits for her age, is downright creepy playing a little girl who is perhaps nine or ten but who has the cunning of the devil himself. There are some great cameo parts, including Cynthia Stevenson, who is best known as the mother in Dead Like Me, and Ian McShane, who plays a detective and who looks like the priest from The Excorcist. This seems to be a remake of an old Twilight Zone episode about a young boy who holds a town hostage with his supernatural powers. This movie is very controversial because the villain is a small child but thankfully Zellweger attempts to stab her, burn her and drive her off a cliff without any concern for being politically correct. This is what horror movies are all about. Not for those with heart conditions.

Entertaining thriller with a new role for Madam Zellweger

[mrcibubur · 7/10 · 15 January 2010]

I saw this film on tire Emirates flight back to the Uk a couple of days ago and I had not heard of this film before, not released in Uk until March 2010. I had only recently watched Zellwegers comedy drama My One and Only and of course Precious, another social workers drama.

oh boy, cant help imagining if mariah carey and Zellweger had swapped roles in either film, what the end result would be? Case 39 is without doubt a psychological thriller with a satisfactory ending and it indeed reminds me greatly of the horror thriller ORPHAN, apart from the child in the oven scene, I do not think anything in the movie was of any great suspense, but that is not to knock or demean the quality of the film. I enjoyed it and I enjoyed Renee Zellwegers performance, though I do feel that she looks a little awkward as a social worker and I cant believe that there are rules which can even be 'bent' which would allow a social worker to adopt a wayward child in the manner shown in the film.

Ian MCShane the British actor was superb as the Boss Mike for Zellwegers character Emily. A Social workers anti social working hours for me were not sufficiently highlighted but perhaps they did not need to be.

As in Orphan and perhaps also in Dustbin Baby, it will make you think twice before adopting or fostering a child who is not who they seem.

I've never seen *yawn* such innovative film making

[docnrse · 2/10 · 23 July 2022]

Cute, seemingly-abused kid is actually a demon that controls other persons' actions with her little demon-psychologist brain. It's like a genius must have come up with this idea because I've never seen anything so darn original.

Or have I?

Ok, enough sarcasm. The characters, despite being portrayed by pretty good actors, all do endless dumb things. The demon kid is standard belligerent, ultra violent and manipulative. None of the characters have any depth. Again, these are not bad actors, but they just had nothing good to work with. There is just nothing to make this movie stand out or make a viewer care in the least about the characters.

It's super predictable, has the endless jump scares that aren't scary, much of the dialogue is extra low volume, but the "scary" bits are extra loud. Just so flat.

If you don't want to know everything, don't read on.

The adoptive mother manages to drown the demon in the end.

Great entertainment...case closed

[yellowporpoise · 9/10 · 27 March 2010]

When I watch a movie my main scale is: Did this movie entertain me? And "Case 39" definitely did. I am not really a fan of creepy movies, but I thought that the cast was good, so gave it a chance and I am glad that I did it. The script is well done, although it is not to difficult to imagine what will happen next. Yes you can predict stuff that happens, but I did not. I was involved in the story, was curious and could just enjoy the creepy atmosphere and the development of the two main characters, Lilli and Emily. The dialogs were fine, the acting believable. It is well crafted and for me, as I have mentioned before, great entertainment and I have enjoyed every minute. Well done, that is how movies should be done.

Never foster a creepy kid. Case in point

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 27 March 2016]

Social worker Emily Jenkins (Renée Zellweger) fosters a strange young girl named Lilith (Jodelle Ferland) whose parents have been locked up for trying to cook their daughter alive in their oven. Of course, it turns out that they had good reason to want to roast Lilith, as Emily discovers when those around her start to die in mysterious circumstances.

While the threat to Emily is still uncertain, Case 39 works very well: it is suspenseful, engaging, and competently directed, with solid performances from both Zellweger and Ferland, the younger girl achieving an impressive air of menace despite her less than imposing stature. Unfortunately, as the story progresses and the exact nature of Lilith becomes clear, the film becomes increasingly more preposterous, leading up to an extremely daft finale that involves Zellweger failing to find help via official channels and instead opting to torch her home with the girl still inside.

Bizarre events that lead up to Emily taking such drastic measures include orphan Diego (Alexander Conti) bashing his parents heads in with a tyre iron after receiving a phone call from Lilith, Emily's platonic boyfriend Doug (Bradley Cooper) carking it when he imagines hornets emerging from every orifice, and Lilith flying into a rage and breaking down a heavily barricaded door to confront her terrified ward.

Shelved for several years, but dusted off and given a release after the success of the similarly themed Orphan, Case 39 is well paced and entertaining enough for the duration, but I suspect it won't find a permanent home in many people's movie collection.

Well...just another American movie

[kaimenkf · 5/10 · 19 January 2010]

Really...I enjoyed the film. Renee is a decent Renee (i mean, doesn't she perform the same character of the other films??) ....the little demon-girl steals the film with a really astounding work...I have to admit that tension is present along the whole movie. But...it is so predictable, SO equal to so-many-other films with kids...I frankly cannot understand what the hell is happening with American screenwriters. Have the ideas run away from your country? come on! those who adore sitting at home and watch a Saturday night thriller will enjoy this film. But if you expect some kind of decent original horror film...forget it. You will have enough fun but will end disappointed.