Review of "Godsend" (2004)

As Jessie (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and Paul Duncan (Greg Kinnear) celebrate the birthday of their eight year old son Adam (Cameron Bright), they have no way of knowing it will be his last. Or will it? Although he's been killed, could he possibly turn eight again… and then nine, and so on? When Dr. Richard Wells (Robert De Niro) approaches the couple at the funeral, at the very apex of their grief, he makes them an offer they decide they cannot refuse: the three defy the rules of nature and clone Adam.
   
The second Adam, not told of his former self, grows into a healthy and happy young boy. Everything is hunky dory until he reaches his eighth birthday. The Duncans begin to see small, subtle differences between the new Adam and the Adam they lost. Adam grows distant and, at times, volatile. The couple and doctor believe it's because of his profoundly bad dreams -- "night terrors" -- but when a decided sinister different personality begins to emerge, Paul and Jessie have to confront the reality that no one knew what would happen after the clone passed the age of his first death.

Although helmer Nick Hamm is lauded as "one of Britain's most respected theatre and film directors" I was just another artless American who never heard of him before seeing Godsend. I must say, I'm suitably impressed. When you think about it, the plot is really nothing special and the storyline has very little wiggle room; I figured out the ending long before perhaps I should have, but it didn't matter. Hamm is very capable director who knows how to keep the suspense speeding along to its inevitable conclusion and lets you have a lot of spooky fun along the way.

This role is one of the few in which Romijn-Stamos doesn't have some sort of physical prop -- no wigs, no beards, no blue boobs here. And she is wonderful. At first glance she seems far too beautiful, fresh-faced and thin to ever have given birth and then suffered the long nights of babyhood, the terrible twos and general stresses of motherhood, but you believe her from second one. She is a young mother, and she is the wife of Paul.  Kinnear is his usual fantastic self (although I'm not a real fan of Auto Focus, I'm still peeved he didn't get an Oscar nod for his role in that movie), and newcomer Bright is picture perfect as the creepy kid.  The three actors have an easy and very believable family chemistry.

And then of course there's Robert De Niro. It's so nice to see him in a serious thriller and not dancing and singing "I feel so pretty" in a prison insanity ward, or mugging "It's Showtime!" alongside Eddie Murphy. Here's the restrained, textured and devilishly persuasive De Niro I love to see (there's even a scene in Godsend which is very much in homage to Angel Heart).

Then there's the undeniable fact that there's just something about kids-gone-wrong in horror movies that works. Think back to The Bad Seed, to The Village of the Damned, to The Exorcist, to The Omen, to The Good Son, to The Sixth Sense, to The Others, to The Ring. (Hm, maybe Godsend should have been titled The Godsend to ensure it's success!). While Adam may not become as iconic as Rhoda or Damien, Bright does an excellent job with the subtle shifts in character, and he never lays it on too thick.

This film may not be a blockbuster type of supernatural thriller along the lines of The Sixth Sense or The Ring, but for those of you looking for a similar movie on a less grand scale, Godsend is sort of a mini-godsend. (In honor of the clone, you might even want to see it twice.)

Review by Staci Layne Wilson for Horror.com