Short Attention Span Review - The Prodigy (2019)
Man, those creepy kids. They get me every time. I think they give a lot of us the willies, because the creepy kid sub-genre is always churning out new additions. The problem with a lot of these flicks is that they often cover similar ground. I think that's why I found the first half of The Prodigy so refreshing. It sought to do something different, and it did so effectively. Not only that, but it was subdued and spooky. Had something of a classy horror vibe to it. That's when the picture was at its best. As it neared the end, it did a lot of things that we have seen before. It did them well, and it was nice and dark--some of these developments were downright horrific, and the execution was sound. Still, given that it began as a departure, I found the familiar beats in the closing reel to be a bit of a letdown. In particular, the ending itself was basically a carbon copy of the conclusion to my favorite example of this sub-genre, a masterpiece in the horror genre at large that will go unnamed here because this note would be quite the spoiler otherwise. That felt a bit lazy, and undermined a lot of the good faith this one built up for much of its runtime. Still, it certainly held my interest, and there were some quality jolts in the mix. The performances were compelling, the atmosphere was rich, and the technical merits were all top-notch. The Prodigy is a well-made horror movie, and it certainly warrants some praise. Having said that, if the finale could have been as inventive as the opening, this one may have emerged as a minor classic.
Final Grade: B-
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| The Prodigy is a pretty good example of the creepy kid sub-genre, which always manages to deliver a few chills. |
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