Nobody puts baillee in the corner

Before rewatching The Good Son, I had an entirely different blog post planned. I was going to do a listicle about “those damned kids” and list other kid-centric horror flicks, but The Good Son wasn’t as scary as I remembered it being. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good movie, and hearing Kevin McCallister talk like David McCall in Fear is a real treat, but it wasn’t the horror movie I remembered it to be. It’s why I love horror though; as we get older, our fears evolve. 

It is a great example. The Pennywise that presents himself (itself? It’s self?) to the children is different to the Pennywise that presents himself to the adults. Our life experiences change our fears. When I was a kid, I was terrified of the entire Child’s Play franchise as well as dolls in general. As I adult, I’ve dressed up as Tiffany Valentine for Halloween and don’t find myself bothered by dolls or dummies. Also, I look a lot deeper into horror than I ever did as a kid because thinking critically comes later. 

Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have taken away the same things I did from likes of Midsommar or Hereditary because I hadn’t had the life experiences I needed to fully comprehend their messages. The same thing happened with The Good Son. When I watched this movie as a kid, I thought (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER) Susan’s choice of which kid to save was easy. Henry was evil, and Mark was good. I didn’t fully grasp the idea of utilitarianism. I couldn’t understand it wasn’t that Mark’s family didn’t believe him but rather they couldn’t believe him; coming to terms with your child being a serial killer is harder than denying the proof, so that’s what Wallace and Susan decided to do. I didn’t comprehend Mark was right about Henry because Mark knew he was emotionally broken, but he understood enough about himself to know Henry was broken in a much darker way, one that couldn’t be healed. 

The Good Son isn’t as scary as I remember it being, but it’s a lot deeper than I remember it being. I thought I was going to watch something akin to The Omen or The Bad Seed, but this was more sinister. Mark even mentions at the end of the film how he never wants to ask Susan if she would save Henry instead of Mark given a second chance. I can’t imagine how a child must feel coming to that conclusion. It’s haunting because there’s an element of realism that doesn’t exist in most evil children horror movies. There’s usually a supernatural force, but The Good Son concocts a natural evil. As an adult, it’s more horrifying to watch this narrative unfold because Henry isn’t the antichrist; he’s a little boy with an absolutely ghoulish mind. He thrives on malice without possession or curse. That’s what makes The Good Son truly terrifying.