The Prodigy Movie 2019 Free Download
It only takes a few minutes into Prodigy (written and
directed by collaborators Alex Haughey and Brian Vidal) to notice that
something is off about the presentation as a whole. Sonically, it’s a film from
roughly the black-and-white era of cinema complete with antiquated sound cues,
crackling noise overheard with headphones on that drowns out some of the low
pitched dialogue, but it’s in color and looks like a film that you would expect
to be released in the year 2018. As I do with most movies, before settling down
to write down some coherent thoughts I decided to do a little research on what
was personally bugging me and came across a review based on a festival circuit
version of the film from 2017 that specifically mentions watching the film in
black and white. There you have it; the source of my confusion is solved, but
answers lead to more questions as now I wonder why it was changed at all. Was
the vision altered by audience feedback, independent distributor requests, or a
creative decision? Would I have enjoyed Prodigymore
if it was in black and white?
Especially
in terms of young Liles, for Neil does what you need him to do as the veteran
between the two: He challenges Liles. A pessimist could easily say Liles plays
the generic way to be a sociopath/ psychopath described. However, this belief
can be dismissed as Jimmy begins picking apart Ellie and we see Liles allow
breaks in this character’s wall. Some of which is made to be obvious, like in a
chess game they have where she seemingly skips a move which could end things to
prolong their conversation. Yet, there are other moments when she looks away or
can’t maintain his sight and it makes you realize he has caught her off guard.
That this persona she made to mentally defend herself against these people who
don’t have her best intentions, he has figured her out.
Marking the feature-length debut of director Nathan
Leon (who previously helmed shorts such as D.O.A. and Limbo), new drama Prodigy is
hoping to make a minor splash as it hits VOD. Nominated for four International
Christian Film and Music Festival awards (including Best Picture), it certainly
has a more intriguing pedigree than the typical straight-to-video release,
giving indie fans hope for a rewarding counter-programming option to check out
this holiday season. There's no denying Leon has an ambitious vision, but he
isn't entirely successful in the execution. Prodigy plays
with some big ideas and heady themes, but doesn't fully develop all of them as
it struggles to truly connect with audiences.
In
her much-anticipated foray into the horror-thriller genre, Golden Globe and
Emmy nominee Taylor Schilling stars in THE PRODIGY as Sarah, a mother whose
young son Miles’ disturbing behavior signals that an evil, possibly
supernatural force has overtaken him. Fearing for her family’s safety, Sarah
must choose between her maternal instinct to love and protect Miles and a
desperate need to investigate what – or who – is causing his dark turn. She is
forced to look for answers in the past, taking the audience on a wild ride; one
where the line between perception and reality becomes frighteningly blurry.
You can see
this fear yet desire to trust him. Making it when he leaves the room and
returns, you can sense this relief in Liles. Something she doesn’t let linger
enough for Neil to catch on, but as we see it over and over, what once was
antagonistic becomes sarcastic banter. Especially as he allows himself to
become vulnerable and show that this isn’t about his ego or anything like that.
He is as willing to open up to her because he sees that is what she needs. With
the intellect she has, it isn’t necessarily a psychologist or psychiatrist she
needs. Just someone to talk to who takes her seriously and treats her as a
person. Not this child with deadly capabilities.
Did Alex Haughey and Brian Vidal get the idea for Prodigy by
watching Magneto and Xavier play chess? Would be cool if that was indeed the
inspiration...
Prodigy is a very quiet science-fiction
thriller that is carried by two effective performances. We're pretty much given
the same seats the supporting characters have (sans the potential danger) to a
interview between a psychologist, Dr. James Fonda, and a 9-year patient named
Eleanor. What's the hook? Eleanor is tied up because she is a danger to
everybody around her. And that danger isn't limited to her exceptionally high
IQ embarrassing...well, everybody around her.
Picture Hannibal Lector as a 9-year old girl battling
back-and-forth, through dialogue and chess, with a psychologist version of Will
Graham. That's your plot in a nutshell. Considering the filmmakers likely
didn't have much of a budget (there is only like two locations used here), they
deserve a big round of applause for creating a cool, intimate character study
that never lost my attention.
If you're browsing Netflix for a film to watch, you can do far
worse. I'll keep my eye out for what Alex Haughey and Brian Vidal do next.
Erik and Caleb are meant to be the emotional
foundation of Prodigy, and
things aren't entirely convincing on that front. While Kays and Johnson have
some strong scenes together, the father-son bond Leon is hoping to flourish
doesn't completely shine through for the whole movie. The chemistry between the
two leads doesn't always light up the screen, but the shortcomings might be
more of a byproduct of the writing than the individual performances. Both Kays
and Johnson do a good job with the material they have to work with; the former
doing a riff on a typical broken soul haunted by past tragedy and the latter
accurately portraying a "gifted" child burdened with an overwhelming
responsibility. The characters definitely fit into old archetypes, but for the
purposes of the film, they work.
Thankfully, whenever Dr. Fonda
(notable character actor Richard Neil) enters the small rectangular room
housing the restrained Ellie (Savannah Liles, who all things considered
turns in a fine introductory performance) to worm his way inside her head and
find out the source of what has troubled her into using her mysterious powers
violently, the interactions are moderately attention-grabbing. Fonda does not
read his patient notes at all before conducting an interrogation (he backs this
up by wanting to hear the patient’s side of the story without any outside interference
clouding his judgment, which I’m sure would not fly at all in the real world,
but admittedly does allow us to learn in tandem with Fonda), so he’s doubtful
what Ellie is capable of until he disobeys orders and removes the straitjacket
so she can physically play chess alongside him (an exercise that will
apparently drop her guard).
As for the craftsmanship: Leon maintains a steady hand
on the material, moving the film along at a nice pace to ensure viewers never
lose interest in Prodigy's genre
elements. The situations the characters find themselves in don't exactly
reinvent the wheel, but there's still enough at stake in the core narrative
(from both a personal and worldly perspective) for people to care about what
happens. Having said that, Leon isn't as smooth handling the thematic angles of Prodigy, laboring his characters
with (at times) heavy-handed dialogue about topics like fate vs. free will and
the existence of divine beings controlling our destinies. Again, this is fairly
complex subject matter for a first-time feature director to tackle, but it's
certainly a little rough around the edges as Leon tries to reach viewers with
his message. Some audience members may be turned off a bit by its perceived
preachiness. 
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