David Pierdomenico
Horror films about evil/possessed children are certainly nothing new. Despite the myriad of similar horror films from the past, The Prodigy takes a familiar premise, but takes it down a fresh and quite disturbing path. Between an unnerving premise, bleak tone, and a surprisingly brilliant performance by a child actor, this film has all the makings of a horror classic.
A Fresh Take on Creepy Kids
The film opens with expectant parents Sarah (Taylor Schilling) and John (Peter Mooney) going to the hospital as they welcome their newborn son into the world. It’s a truly joyous occasion as they had tried for many years to have a child and are now finally being given one. Over a montage, we see little Miles grow up as his parents discover that he is incredibly intelligent and far ahead of most children his age. As he reaches age 8, he’s now enrolled in a school for the gifted, but he fears that some unknown entity is out to get him. As his parents try to reassure him, his fears progress, and he begins to exhibit violent and antisocial behavior, even assaulting a classmate with a wrench!
After a psychiatrist attempts to diagnose him, she brings in a colleague, Dr. Jacobsen (Colm Feore) with a more unconventional theory. In addition to Miles’ violent outbursts, his mother records him speaking what she thinks is gibberish in his sleep. But after Jacobsen gets it translated, they discover that the young boy is speaking a very rare Eastern European dialect, without ever having been exposed to it. Jacobsen theorizes that this may be the result of Miles having been reincarnated from a past life, and having memories of that life. It’s a phenomenon that’s been documented in real life, and remains unexplainable by modern science. The Prodigy takes this concept and runs with it full speed into disturbing horror territory.
Part of what makes young Miles so creepy is how he innocuously switches between a sweet and innocent little boy, and a psychopath devoid of empathy. Jackson Robert Scott may be very young, but he plays Miles with a range that many adult actors struggle to pull off. Between his small role as Georgie in 2017’s It, and The Prodigy, he has a brilliant future ahead of him. Taylor Schilling also turns in a compelling and conflicted performance. She only wants to help her son, and even finds herself going down a very treacherous path that she never would have thought possible for her.
First of its Kind
While other films of the past like The Omen, Joshua, The Bad Seed, and Orphan have all dealt with evil/demonic children, The Prodigy is one of the only horror films (in the Western world that is) to tackle the subject of reincarnation. It’s been explored a bit more in Asian horror, where the belief in it is much more prevalent. What sets it apart from these other films however, is its bleak and subtle delivery. Rather than rely on spectacle or over-stylization, the film simply tells its story and allows the unsettling subject matter to scare the audience. Sure, there are a couple jump scares here and there, but what makes the film truly frightening are the ideas that it purports. It’s the type of story that will leave viewers feeling more uneasy long after they’ve seen it and have a chance to really think about the implications of everything.
In some ways, it’s similar to Insidious, in that it deals with a young boy falling victim to malevolent forces which seek to control him. However Insidious really falls apart in the third act. When they enter “The Further” all sense of mystery is lost and it looks like the set of a Tim Burton film. Quite the contrary, The Prodigy never jumps the shark like this, and it builds to a climax and ending that feels like a punch to the gut and will leave viewers with their jaws dropped in the theater! Overall, it’s an incredibly tense horror/thriller that has just the right amount of creepiness and scares to keep horror audiences engaged.
