Case 39 is a 2009 supernatural horror film directed by Christian Alvart, starring Renee Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Bradley Cooper, and Ian McShane. A social worker fights to save a girl from her abusive parents, only to discover that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected.
The story is pretty good and as it progresses becomes more interesting as the twist happens. It goes at a pretty good pace, and it does point to many horrors’ movie beats. Although I thought it was pretty interesting, I did find that it was predictable. Is this story cliche? I’m not really sure. But if you go by films like Orphan (2009) or The Good Son (1993) then this dealing dangerous kid isn’t original. Still, the film did keep me engaged. I’m not a fan of the ending because there’s two or three scenes where the film should’ve ended that would’ve been ambiguous but satisfying.
Emily Jenkins is our main protagonist, a social worker who happens upon a case where the parents are attempting to kill their daughter. Emily’s okay. She’s likable enough, trying to look out for Lilith’s well-being. You’ve seen this character before many, many times. I did like Mike Barron (a detective who helps Emily with the case) and Douglas Ames (a psychiatrist and friend of Emily), I thought they were likable and had some depth. Lilith is the star of the show and one of the better child villains I’ve seen in recent films. She manages to be very creepy and unsettling but also charming and manipulative. She’s incredibly smart and how she isolates Emily is quite clever.
I liked the story, and I liked the characters, especially Lilith. (3 out of 5)
The special effects are good for the most part. When the characters are going through the hallucinations they’re convincing. The kill sequences are well shot and although they’re pretty violent, aren’t overly bloody or gorey. The CGI effects when it comes to Lilith’s true form aren’t good, but it’s a good decision that they reframed from showing it til the end although there are glimpses of it here and there. By no means is this a bad looking show. It’s shot competently.
I actually liked the music and thought that it helped to maintain a strong suspenseful tone. There’s not a lot epic stuff going on in the film but the music and sound design work well. I don’t know much about Michi Britsch’s work but from this film I would like to see more.
Overall, the film’s structure works. (3 out of 5)
This movie has a brilliant cast with great performances all around. Renee Zellweger leads the film and she’s just brilliant. Supporting Zellweger is Ian McShane, Bradley Cooper, and Adrian Lester and they do a good job. But the star of the film, undoubtedly, is Jodelle Ferland. She manages to seamlessly switch between being sweet, innocent, and vulnerable to creepy, menacing, and manipulative. She played a similar role in Silent Hill, so she’s got the whole creepy girl factor down. Also, there’s Callum Keith Rennie and Kerry O’Malley.
The film isn’t scary by any means but it’s still entertaining. Christian Alvart does a decent job with the direction. While typing this review I realize that I just recently watched another movie by Alvart called Pandorum, which I did like. One of the things I like about this film is the dialogue, particularly Lilith’s dialogue. When it’s delivered it’s intelligent and manipulative.
As a horror film, it does a good job of being subtle. Things aren’t over the top though there are a couple of jumpscares here and there are unnecessary. Emily and Mike investigating the murder at Diego’s home and a dog jumps at the window. Why? There are some bits where the writing could’ve been tightened up a little bit better like having more creepy, atmopsheric scenes.
But there are some really good scenes in this film. The scene where Emily tries to barracade herself in her room only for Lilith to break in is when Emily realizes that she’s dealing withi something otherworldly. It’s a great tense scene and the director does a good job of coaching Ferland with this scene. Lilith’s conversation with Douglas is another really good scene.
Overall, the performances are good, and the writing and direction is decent. (3 out of 5)
The Verdict: In the end, Case 39 isn’t breaking any new ground but it’s still a decent watch. I was thoroughly surprised at how much I liked this film. It’s not really scary, the premise isn’t original, and it’s predictable. But I really enjoyed the dialogue, some of the really tense scenes, Ferland’s performance; Case 39 gets 3 out of 5.
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