Le cas 39

Case 39 (2009)

The clever plot isn't quite clever enough to keep you going through the whole movie, but almost. And both Renee Zellwegger as the passionate and trapped social worker and Jodelle Ferland as the adorable but mysterious child are quite amazing. Both are actors at the best of their powers, Zellwegger limited only by the role and the writing, which is very good but not quite flexible enough to let her show as many of those perplexed and touching nuances she is so good at (seen equally in "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Nurse Betty"). But it's possible Ferland has the role of her life here. She's not only playing a precocious child, but is clearly a precocious young actress, bright, expressive, surprising, and not merely cute. By the way she was fifteen when it was filmed, even though she looks and acts, in most ways, like she's ten.

You can't ignore the plot, of course, since this is a plot driven movie saved by two great actresses, not the other way around. And the story is a little bit of a formula with a twist. The twist is good, but it is singular. Eventually we are carried from a personal and social drama with some evil people to a supernatural drama. It's here where things get scariest, but also where things wobble slightly in terms of believability or logic, if logic has any place here. For example, once the antagonist is shown to have really limitless powers of some kind (possibly imaginary), why does this person not have the power to just kill someone out and out? There is dangled the idea that this bad force depends on fear to proceed, but this isn't developed clearly, or maybe you have to see it twice to get.

On the other hand, if you just go with the flow, it's really increasingly scary. There are some scenes, like the woman in the hospital room that turns into a kind of large oven, that are chilling and really well done. Certainly Zellwegger's character is able to find the outlines of logic as she tries to survive by outsmarting the situation, and we're on her side. Eventually it comes to a dramatic climax, and it's pretty exciting. A sleeper, for sure.

A social worker named Emily Jenkins (Renee Zellweger) fights to save a girl named Lilith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland) from her abusive parents (Callum Keith Rennie , Kerry O'Malley) . When Emily meet the nine-year-old girl, she immediately fall in love with the well-educated daughter and then she decides to adopt the child only to aware that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected . Eventually, Emily begins to feel that Lilith is manipulative and possibly even psychologically disturbed . Later on , Emily learns Lilith has a troubled and mysterious history. Jenkins helped by Det. Mike Barron (Ian McShane) delves further into Lilith's past and discovers she is not at all who she pretends to be.

This is an entertaining terror movie where the intrigue,tension, suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room, corridors , elevator and interior and exterior. Remarkably well-acted, darkly paced , and effectively disturbing .This frightening movie is plenty of thrills, scary fun, chills, body-count and nice use of color with phenomenal results . It's brilliantly cast - Renee Zellwegger and Bradley Cooper- are top-notch as usual, but what really stood out where the natural performances director Christian Alvert (who subsequently would direct another good terror film with surprising style as ¨Pandorum) was able to get from the child actor-Ferland- .

Dark, edgy, twisted, effective, clever, intense, one of the best "evil child" films I've ever seen along with ¨The orphan¨(2008) by Jaume Collet Serra .It is a well-acted and slow-building suspense story with slick direction and cinematography. The creepy score also serves the film well, without becoming overpowering in signaling this is an " eerie" film. The actress who plays Lilith shows a skill in performance that makes one think we may actually have another Jodie Foster to keep an eye on. Compelling directed with startling visual content by Christian Alvart (Pandorum , Antibodies , Curiosity: the cat) . This genuinely mysterious story is well made and is one of the best ¨evil kid¨ movie with effective aesthetic and sense of style . Rating : 6,5 acceptable ; this unsettling picture will appeal to Renee Zelleweger fans and horror genre buffs .

This was a trippy movie that was pretty intense. Most of all I wanted to know what was up with the little girl. There was clearly something not right about her, but was she another Samara from The Ring?

I'm not a Zellweger fan by any means, but she was decent in this movie. Stay tuned to the very end and you will be rewarded.

I checked this movie out after watching a trailer online and I gotta say, it delivered. It was a nice little surprise for this major horror fan. It didn't rely on the "jump scare" which so many horror movies depend on lately, although it had a few. It created a very creepy atmosphere that stayed til the very end. Given, this movie could've supported better acting (I'm looking at you, Renee) and directing but if you're looking to be entertained and a little creeped out for 90 minutes then check it out. It runs in the tradition of movies like "The Reaping" and "Orphan" where the child in the movie makes you feel a little uneasy the entire time. Defiitely one of the better straight to DVD movies in awhile. If you are a horror fan then this movie should put an evil lil grin on your bloody face. However, if you stray more towards romcoms and drama then go rent Love Actually or some other random terrible movie.

The beginning intrigued me. What is the entity in question, and why is it tormenting Lilith, and her parents before her? Why do the parents blame Lilith when she is clearly a victim? This is the main thing Case 39 has going for it: you won't know at first what type of movie it will end up being. Later in the film, though, it has chosen its bag of clichés and sticks to them. Which bag? Ah, that would be telling.

This being said, the common devices director Alvart chooses for the film still work, and Ferland (Lilith) does a good job in a demanding role for a girl who was twelve or thirteen years old when the movie was completed, on 2007. It was finally released in October of 2010, the month of Ferland's sixteenth birthday.

Why you should see it You enjoy things, other than your annoying upstairs neighbor, that go "bump" in the night. You still find Zellweger to be as adorable as she was the first time she said "you had me at hello," and not nearly as annoying as that line became upon its 300th repetition. You like your paranormal phenomena to surround pale, creepy kids.

Why you shouldn't see it You're terribly afraid of hornets, heights, shotguns, ovens, carving knives, bodies of water, forks, and blunt objects, and you don't feel up to confronting all of these phobias within the space of two hours.