U.S.A. / color / 105 minutes
Director: George Ratliff
Screenwriter: David Gilbert, George Ratliff
- Saturday, January 20, 08:30 PM
Racquet Club, Park City - Sunday, January 21, 11:30 PM
Library Center Theatre, Park City - Monday, January 22, 03:00 PM
Sundance Institute Screening Room, Sundance Resort - Tuesday, January 23, 09:00 PM
Tower Theater, Salt Lake City - Wednesday, January 24, 12:00 PM
Eccles Center, Park City - Thursday, January 25, 02:30 PM
Racquet Club, Park City
JOSHUA
One of the most difficult choices anyone has to make is whether or not to have a child. It is a life-altering decision that carries profound consequences even if everything goes right. But what if it goes horribly wrong?
Joshua tells the story of the quintessential well-to-do New York City family: a successful father who works on Wall Street; a mother who chooses to stay at home to care for their newborn daughter; and Joshua, a precocious young piano prodigy. With the newborn's addition, the family's dynamic shifts, and their seemingly idyllic world begins falling apart. But is it just the rigors of caring for a newborn and a little sibling rivalry or is it something much more sinister?
George Ratliff, who directed the documentary Hell House, successfully transitions to the narrative world with a horror story disguised as a sophisticated family drama. Eschewing dark shadows and recherché camera angles, he compensates for the sinister content by favoring daylight over nighttime and preserving a straightforward, natural approach that defies expectations. Thanks to complex performances from a top-notch cast, Joshua transcends the genre to create a modern horror story that demonstrates how the potential for evil exists in the everyday.
