The Good Son
Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: September 24, 1993 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
10
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyTy Burr
The Good Son delivers its knuckle-gnawing set pieces with a skill that makes other thrillers look logy. Read full review
70
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Young Mac is decisively upstaged by Wood, but the film's strongest selling point has to be a cliff-top finale in which the tyke's own mother has to choose whether he'll live or die. A summer camp classic. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRobert Faires
An above-average “killer kid from hell” picture. Not The Bad Seed but not bad. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
The Good Son is a second-rate thriller with first-rate production values. On a lower budget and without the hottest child star in America in the cast, Ruben and McEwan might have made a meaner, tougher and more successful thriller. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The Good Son has a handsome, scenic look that sustains interest, and a suspenseful ending that is quite literally gripping. The film's final scene is one of its few suspenseful and original moments. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyGlenn Kenny
(Culkin's) attempt to broaden his range with the not-for-kids thriller The Good Son — in a part that calls for complex emotions rather than amusing reactions-comes up way short. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
There's wonderful use made of a Maine port town, and Ruben gets a dizzying thrill or two out of overhead shots, but the conceptual overload finally prevents this from coming together. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
At best, this film is strictly cable fare. Read full review
50
Washington PostHal Hinson
The mere presence of the adorable baby star, in fact, seems to throw the whole film out of whack, making the picture play more like an inadvertent comedy than a thriller. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian Lowry
The bizarre prospect of Macaulay Culkin as a latter-day "bad seed" should prompt enough curiosity to generate initial box office visits, but this peculiar thriller doesn't deliver enough jolts to leave the audience screaming. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldBill Cosford
The presence of Culkin in the cast should not deceive parents: This isn't a kids' movie. It's just not much of a grownups' movie, either. [24 Sep 1993, p.G5]
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Culkin's best comedy ever. If only this movie wasn't supposed to be a horror picture. Read full review
40
EmpireJeff Dawson
This thriller can't decide if it's a childrens thriller meant for adults or an adult thriller meant for kids, but ends up entertaining no-one. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The unsurprising, one-note nature of The Good Son, the fact that it’s a bump-in-the-night movie where all the bumps are visible a mile ahead, sorely constricts any possibility of excitement. Read full review
38
The Seattle TimesJohn Hartl
The plot is so filled with inconsistencies and lapses in logic, especially during the desperate concluding reels, that it's difficult to take seriously its proposition that some people are born evil. [24 Sep 1993, p.D12]
25
St. Louis Post-DispatchHarper Barnes
The Good Son is cheaply manipulative in a way that can make you angry. [24 Sep 1993, p.3EV]
12
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is a creepy, unpleasant experience, made all the worse because it stars children too young to understand the horrible things we see them doing. Read full review
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