Director: Christian Alvart
Writer: Ray Wright (Screenplay)
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane, Bradley Cooper, Callum Keith Rennie
Plot: A social worker fights to save a girl from her abusive parents, only to discover that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Solid Horror
Story: Case 39 starts as we see the workload of social worker Emily Jenkins (Zellweger), the latest case to fall on her desk is Case 39 about young girl Lilith Sullivan (Ferland) who is being abused by her parents but nothing can be proven. Emily get Detective Barron (McShane) to help investigate but when Lilith’s parents try to kill her, she is removed from the home.
When Lilith moves in with Emily during the case hearing, we start to learn what could have been the problem with Lilith as strange things start to happen around the people Emily cares about, is this Lilith causing the problems or something more sinister.
Thoughts on Case 39
Characters/Performance – Emily Jenkins is the social worker that always does the best for the children through any of the cases she gets, she sees the latest case with Lilith and takes her in as the only one she can trust but soon her life start unravelling and Emily must question her good nature to stop people dying. Lilith is the young girl that Emily believes is being abused by her family, she starts of looking innocent but soon becomes strange through the film and she could in fact be evil. Detective Barron is the person Emily always turns to, to solve any problems in the cases she has, he is loyal to her and willing to help solve any wrong doings.
Performance wise, Renee Zellweger is good in this lead role showing us horror can work with the right leading lady. Jodelle Ferland made a reputation playing the creepy little girl around this time and she is the star of the show here. Ian McShane is good in the supporting role too.
Story – The story is a smart decision process because a social worker having the mentality to want to protect children having to question that because one could be evil poses a great set of moral questions throughout the film. That is the core of the story here we do have characters getting picked off by what could an evil child but it does keep us wondering how somebody would deal with the actual anti-Christ.
Horror/Mystery – The horror comes in our characters being haunted by their nightmares that are being created by Lilith but the mystery behind why this is happening in the first place.
Settings – We have everyday settings in this film that makes us feel like this could happen to anybody, this does help everything unfold.
Special Effects – The effects do work when it comes to the kills going on through the film without it being all over the top CGI.
Final Thoughts – This is a solid horror that spends slightly too much time trying to add extra scares instead of focusing on what could be moral questions Emily should need to face.
Overall: Solid Horror that can be enjoyable for the horror fans.
Rating
