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Little Joe

2019

Jessica Hausner

Emily Beecham, Ben Whishaw, Kit Connor, Leanne Best ...

6.1

2,542

Drama. Fantasy Alice, a single mother, is a dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a very special crimson flower, remarkable not only for its beauty but also for its therapeutic value: if kept at the ideal temperature, fed properly and spoken to regularly, this plant makes its owner happy. Against company policy, Alice takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe. They christen it ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Owen Gleiberman Variety	"It takes audacity, and a special skill, to sustain that early mood of premonitory dread over an entire film. And that’s what happens (...) An artfully unnerving, austerely hypnotic horror movie about a very sinister plant."	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"[It] fails to deliver on its premise (...) It is a mood piece. Whose mood leads nowhere (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG
United States	Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post	"A tale of exquisite refinement, not heavy-handed horror (...) It’s a movie that grows on you, planting a seed that only comes to flower long after the closing credits (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Wendy Ide Screendaily	"This film won’t be for everyone (...) But for those who engage with it, this oddly off-kilter piece of storytelling should exert a pull every bit as mesmerising as any genetically modified mood-enhancing shrub."	NEU
United States	Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter	"[It] is loaded with dull expository dialogue, dozens of identical lateral tracking shots, unconvincing casting (...) The rest is wannabe thriller stuff."	NEG
United States	Ben Croll The Wrap	"If the film can be somewhat unsubtle in its thematic questions, it matches that with an equally loud color palette – and you know what, that’s perfectly fine. What more can you ask from a film about a mind-controlling flower?"	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"A ‘Body Snatchers’ for the Age of Antidepressants (...) [Hausner] is a cinematic hypnotist of a high order (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"	POS
	Fabien Lemercier Cineuropa	"The film ultimately reveals itself to be a very subtle work which is beautifully directed, but whose cold distance from the viewer is so keenly felt that we can only admire its finesse from far off."	NEU
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"It’s hard to shake the feeling that Hausner’s film could have been so much richer if it asked people take stock of their personal happiness without delegitimizing it at the same time."	NEU
United Kingdom	Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard	"Timeless, topical, 'Little Joe' was made for nuppence. It’s a little film. But it’s epic (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Tim Robey Telegraph	"The themes do nag away at you: Hausner’s too smart and too playful not to tickle you with what she’s attempting (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Ireland	Donald Clarke Irish Times	"It gets under your skin and lays eggs there (...) Some may find this film slow and obscure but it will not be easily forgotten (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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