Case 39
By Jeffrey Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Dull "killer kid" tale features violence involving children.

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Case 39
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Based on 5 parent reviews
Another edge of your seat movie
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Worth watching...
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What's the Story?
Stressed social worker Emily Jenkins (Renee Zellweger) is assigned one more case in addition to the 38 she already has, a young girl named Lilith (Jodelle Ferland). Emily visits the home and discovers that the girl's parents are showing signs of abuse. Emily decides to take Lilith in until a good foster home can be found -- but unfortunately, everyone around Emily quickly begins dying, starting with her psychologist friend, Doug (Bradley Cooper). Emily starts to believe that maybe Lilith is the problem, rather than her parents. Can she get anyone to believe her before it's too late?
Is It Any Good?
The "demon child" subgenre of horror movies is an old one, stretching from The Bad Seed to The Omen to the more recent Orphan, and Case 39 doesn't have anything fresh to add. Completed in 2007, CASE 39 sat around for a long time before being unceremoniously dump in theaters in 2010; in the meantime, director Christian Alvart went on to make the effectively moody Pandorum, but this movie is a dud.
In these movies, the horror springs from the concept that the purest and most innocent of all creatures -- a child -- can harbor murderous evil. But Case 39 doesn't seem to understand this; there's no real emotional draw to the characters, and they don't seem connected to one another. Alvart counts on jump shocks and sudden noises for his scary scenes, and none of it works very well. The movie never digs deeper into its premise.
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Movie Details
- In theaters: October 1, 2010
- On DVD or streaming: January 4, 2011
- Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ian McShane, Jodelle Ferland, Renee Zellweger
- Director: Christian Alvart
- Studio: Paramount Vantage
- Genre: Horror
- Run time: 109 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: violence and terror including disturbing images
- Last updated: June 2, 2023
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