The Prodigy Movie (The Descendant) Review

The Prodigy movie is atmospherically creepy. Also; I like films with scary or creepy kid antagonists. I’ll watch just about anything with a strange or murderous youngster featured in the confines of a horror narrative. In this title, Jackson Robert Scott (Fear the Walking Dead) deserves a special mention so you’ll remember his name the next time you see or hear it. The young actor gives a stellar performance in this role as Miles. I very much doubt a part like this would be an easy one and whether it was a trick of special effects or simply just a convincing portrayal of two personalities, sometimes his face looked like two completely different people.

The Prodigy Movie Review

Seasoned horror film buffs will pick parts of this story apart and throw them in the trash. Even though I’m usually finicky about smaller narrative details within films; the great performances, hard spin on a tired possession theme, and amazing visuals forced me to overlook them.

The weakest points of this for me were to do with the reactions of some of the characters. They have that ‘suspend your belief’ vibe attached to them. I mean, he might be small but the things he gets up to warrant a tiny bit more proactive-based problem solving if you know what I mean. There’s only so much I can take of an enabling prop like Sarah.

For the most part in The Prodigy, there is a slow and steady build-up of tension and foreseeable dread. I don’t mean the film is predictable. In this case, the story’s inevitability stems from events caused by the audience seeing what the characters are not privy to. Structurally, the circumstances cause a fantastic nerve-wracking landscape.

In addition, I also liked the way his mother Sarah, and father John were subdued as characters. Both play extremely reactive people who are plodding along blindly against their own histories. It’s not too hard to see that John’s vague mention of an abusive father would make him immediately run for the hills when things get tough, but he does come back when things look to be out of control.

Horror Tropes in The Prodigy

Horror tropes, where would we be without them? Just because you didn’t fly out of your seat in response to a predefined ‘jump scare’ doesn’t mean the setup wasn’t ominous in context. In fact, I’d go as far as saying they weren’t meant to make you jump. It was clear Miles went into the basement, it’s shown when he removes the lightbulb. The course of events is also mapped out. Not to give the surprise element but to highlight Miles’ escalation of evil.

The viewer knows he’s possessed and by who. No one else in the film knows. For me, the external cast in The Prodigy discovering what Miles is all about was where my attention was focused. In fact, what was great is that even Miles takes a back seat as the Edward Scarka story is allowed to develop. It’s in this part of the story that the narrative within The Prodigy gets to be different from stories that have similar elements.

I can’t help but like this film as a whole and would love to see another film follow it. I’m going to predict it will be a stand-alone film, however. The final quarter was fantastic and I definitely didn’t figure out all the twists and turns.

3.5 solid endings out of 5

Where to Watch The Prodigy Movie

• ‘The Prodigy’ movie is available On Demand, Blu-ray, and DVD from May 7th, 2019. There’s even a soundtrack, with the most accessible place to hear it being Spotify, for free. The Prodigy is streaming free on Paramount + in the UK. The scary possession movie is also available on most platforms as a rental or digital download.

Jeff Buhler

Do you know who I really like? Jeff Buhler. He wrote The Prodigy, and if you didn’t know, he also did the screenplay for Pet Sematary, 2019. I first began following his work after The Midnight Meat Train. Buhler’s first movie was called Insanitarium and he wrote, directed, and even starred in it.

The Prodigy stars Taylor Schilling (from OITNB), Peter Mooney (Camelot), Colm Feore (Thor), Brittany Allen (What Keeps You Alive), and Paul Fauteux (No Stranger Than Love.)