Release Date: October 1st, 2010Click here for the Case 39 Trailer.
Emily Jenkins(Renee Zellweger) is a young social worker who is assigned to investigate the family of 10-year-old Lillith Sullivan(Jodelle Ferland). Lillith's grades have steadily declined and an emotional tear between her and her parents has warranted the concern of the state. When Emily investigates the family, she comes to the conclusion that they are abusing Lillith and neglecting her. But without hardcore evidence, Emily cannot do anything to help Lillith.
But the scene quickly changes when Emily receives a phone call from Lillith saying her parents are coming for her. Emily, along with her friend Detective Mike Barron(Ian McShane), go to Lillith's house to find her in a horrible situation. After that, Lillith is placed in a group home until she convinces Emily to adopt her until the state can find a decent foster family.
After Lillith moves in with Emily, strange things begin to happen. The kids in Lillith's support group begin acting violently and Emily's friends, including her best friend and Lillith's Psychiatrist Douglas J. Ames(Bradley Cooper), begin experiencing horrible accidents. Emily soon begins to think that this case of a poor helpless girl may not be as clear as she once assumed, and it is up to her to figure out exactly what is going on and exactly what Lillith is before it is too late.
Renee Zellweger returns to the big screen, in person that is, for the first time since 2008 and does a pretty good job. I hadn't heard a lot about this movie before I saw it. At most I had seen maybe two previews for it, but other than that I was completely in the dark about the plot, the actors etc... but I decided to give it a chance anyway. Now considering it is October, scary movies are definitely the way to go.
As far as Case 39 goes, this movie won't top my all time scream fests but it will lay somewhere in the middle with films like Signs and 30 Days of Night. I just wasn't particularly scared during this movie. While it did have a few spots that made me jump, the overall "scare factor" just wasn't there. What was there was a great cast list as well as an original and interesting story that kept me involved.
I've always liked Renee Zellweger and I have always thought she has done great work with all of her films. She kept her streak with me going with Case 39. I felt obligated to feel for her character and empathize with how she felt and reacted to certain situations. Normally I find social workers in film and television to be pompous and just downright annoying. However, with Zellweger I felt like she was legitimately trying to help people. This will connect with audiences and keep them paying attention throughout the film.
I was really impressed with the performance delivered by the young Jodelle Ferland. Now everybody knows that children in horror roles are creepy, but Jodelle took it to a whole new level. While she definitely does not outshine the terror that is Linda Blair in The Exorcist, Ferland does add her own form of creepiness. I think what got me the most was the fact that the whole time she was making these horrible things happen she maintained a cute, bubbly personality like everything was normal. She would giggle and act like a normal little kid which, for me, was the creepiest part.
I thought the story was very intriguing. While I already knew what Ferland's character was, I still found the main basis behind her behavior and why she did the things she did to be very interesting. The power of whatever Lillith was supposed to be was definitely scary, and it always made you wonder what was going to happen next and when it was going to happen. This also made you feel the stress that Zellweger's character went through.
I do, however, have on gripe on the story. Towards the end, when you finally realize what Lillith is and what she wants, the movie builds and builds and builds, adding all this anticipation for what you think is going to be some huge confrontation. For me, I was expecting Lillith to go full on demon mode and wreak havoc or at least go out with some style. However, spoilers aside, she didn't. While I won't tell you the exact ending, for me it felt abrupt and unimaginative. I felt like something greater should have taken down Lillith.
Other than that this was a pretty decent movie. Enough plot and suspense to keep you interested but definitely not one of the scariest films in theaters. If you want a decent psychological horror film, then you should definitely give Case 39 a look.
I give Case 39 7 "Harmless" Children Shoved into Ovens out of 10.
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