PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Jessica Hausner’s (Lovely Rita 2001) film, Little Joe, is a new, unnerving, moody thriller. The film stars Emily Beecham (The Thirteenth Tale 2013), Ben Whishaw (Mary Poppins Returns 2018), Kerry Fox (Mayhem 2017 – read our review here), Kit Connor (His Dark Materials TV series), and Phénix Brossard (Riviera 2017).
Synopsis:
Alice, a single mother, is a dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. Against company policy, she takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe.
Little Joe is not a conventional horror film by any means, but it does pose a very interesting, insidious idea: are those who are using anti-depressants not fully living their lives? Are they are somehow less of a person than who they used to be? Alice (played brilliantly by Beecham) is developing a new species of plant that she calls Little Joe, which are named after her son. Its scent is designed to trigger the release of the precursor of oxytocin in humans, which will give them a general sense of well-being. But what effect does the flower really have on the human? More importantly, what does Little Joe want from us?
I just want to start off by saying that there is a lot to love about this film. Emily Beecham is a revelation as Alice. She holds the entire film together in a role that requires deftness and acting of the most subtle kind. She is just brilliant.
I should also mention the eerie, Japanese Kabuki-style music that acts as a character in itself. This music sets a lot of the sinister moods, and without it, many of the key scenes would not be as effective. The visuals are stunning. You may never look at greenhouses the same way again after seeing row after row of Little Joes standing at menacing attention at a character caught alone in there.
My biggest problem with Little Joe was with the pacing of the film. It has so many incredible things going for it, but it felt like it took forever to get there. I understand that it was designed to be a slow burn, but this burn took just a little too long to catch fire for me. But the themes are strong, and so is Beecham’s performance. The two combined allow me to recommend it to those who are willing to be patient. Little Joe opens in theaters on December 6, 2019.
