The Good Son

1993
R
1h 27m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

47K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,843

Play trailer1:13

2 Videos

87 Photos

Psychological Drama Psychological Thriller Drama Thriller

A young boy stays with his aunt and uncle and becomes friends with his cousin, a boy of the same age who shows increasing signs of violent and psychopathic behavior.A young boy stays with his aunt and uncle and becomes friends with his cousin, a boy of the same age who shows increasing signs of violent and psychopathic behavior.A young boy stays with his aunt and uncle and becomes friends with his cousin, a boy of the same age who shows increasing signs of violent and psychopathic behavior.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

47K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,843

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations

Videos2

Photos87

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood became very close friends during production, and remain so to this day.

Goofs
When Henry and Mark are climbing the tree at the start of the film, a crew member can be seen, dressed all in black, helping Mark on to the platform.

Quotes
[Susan walks alone with Henry in the woods to talk about Richard]
Susan: Henry?
Henry: Yes, Mom?
Susan: You have to tell me the truth now. What happened the night Richard died?
Henry: Don't you know?
Susan: I'd like to hear it from you.
Henry: I was downstairs playing.
Susan: [Susan gets down in front of Henry's face] Henry, don't lie to me, all right? Just don't lie to me. Now you tell me... Did you kill Richard?
Henry: What if I did?
Susan: Well, um...
Henry: What, Mom?
Susan: We'll get you help.
Henry: You don't look too good, Mom. Looks like you need the help.
Susan: You have to trust me, Henry.
Henry: No. No, I can't. You just want to send me away, don't you?
Susan: Why, no. No, I don't.
Henry: You wanna put me in one of those places.
Susan: No, Henry.
Henry: Well, I'd much rather die, you hear me? I'd much rather be dead!
Susan: Henry! Henry, no!
[Susan runs after Henry into the woods]
Susan: Henry? Henry!
Susan: [Susan runs to the cliff of the hill where Henry might've jumped off] Henry! Henry! Henry!
Henry: [Henry comes walking up behind Susan] Looking for me, Mom?
Susan: Oh, Henry.
Henry: You really thought I was going to jump, huh? I guess you don't know me very well, Mom.
[Henry runs to take a dash into Susan]

Alternate versions
The 1995 UK video version was cut by 33 secs by the BBFC to edit shots of Henry and Mark dropping a lifelike human dummy into a stream of traffic to cause a motorway pile-up, as this was considered a dangerous imitable technique. The cuts were waived for the 2002 version.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Striking Distance/Into the West/The Age of Innocence/Household Saints/Baraka (1993)

User reviews195

Review

Featured review

Macaulay Culkin's best performance and film.

This is Macaulay Culkin's best film. He was very creepy as the young boy with a black heart. The dialogue was great. I truly admired the performance of Elijah Wood, emerging as one of the best young actors around. This film has so much suspense, by the end, I was very exhausted.