‘The Prodigy’ filmmakers play tricks with the tropes of evil-kid movies
LA TimesIn the new horror movie “The Prodigy,” out Friday, a mother’s love is put to the test when her precocious young son begins to exhibit signs of an otherworldly possession. “On opening weekend, she’s organizing like 30 moms from my kid’s school to go see this movie,” said Buhler with a laugh. “‘Halloween’ was probably one of the trigger points for me that anchored me in the genre,” said Buhler. “They feel like these moral object lessons where we’re being asked, ‘What would you do if your child was capable of something awful?’” Though the film’s premise feels predictable, there is a twist in the third act that horror audiences will not see coming, something the filmmakers hope will quell the comparisons to memorable contemporary films in the genre such as “The Omen” and “The Good Son.” “We didn’t want to end on one of the big tropes of the genre where an expert character comes in and then there’s some kind of ritual that makes everything go away,” said Buhler. I think there’s a wave of genre films that are doing that really well right now and I would say we sort of fit into that universe.” “Well, we hope to,” Vinson said.
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