What Josiah Saw (2021) User Reviews

Very dark and unsettling mystery movie

[The_Swedish_Reviewer · 7/10 · 15 December 2022]

Wow, what did I just watch? It's really hard to explain what's going on until the last few minutes, and even then you still feel like you don't really get the whole story. This movie is about sin and what to do to "make things right". However, there is a long way to the resolution with many loose ends to tie up, which eventually happens. So please be patient as this is a slow burner for sure.

The acting is top notch. Haven't seen such a good performance in a long time. Robert Patrick, Nick Stahl, Scott Haze and Kelli Garner do a fantastic job of making everything as unsettling as possible.

This is a dark strange unsettling masterpiece that deserves a much higher rating!

What did I just see!?

[Devils_advocake · 7/10 · 5 August 2022]

Let me just start off by saying I'm a horror movie fanatic. I love horror and have been watching them since the under counter nasties of the mid 80s. Not many I haven't seen.

This is good, really very good the actings superb, it's wonderfully dark and deals with extremely taboo subjects and interweaves them into a beautifully crafted movie.

It wonderfully builds its characters throughout it's entirety until bringing them to a crescendo in the final scenes.

Really haven't enjoyed a movie so much since hereditary. It's up there with that, though slightly more subtle with it's paranormal undertones. Love it.

Crazy, Weirdly, Appallingly, Good Film!

[tiskec · 7/10 · 26 November 2022]

This movie is probably one of Shudder's better film productions. Some aspects in this movie make you cringe (without spoiling), like a lot of incest related issues. That's not all though. The whole family was bats**it crazy.

The entire family that lived on that farm has a horrible thing(s) that they've done and as the movie plays out, you get to know more and more.

I really liked how this film presented both the past and current lives of the siblings. It made you actually care about what is going on. It only shows glimpses of the past for each sibling when their introduced. I think this is because... well, they're traumatized. You see little bits of messed up images until it all comes together in the end.

I think they did an awesome job on the movie. It had great dialogue and the cinematography was pretty damn well done. The camera shootings were great. It was an actual good folk horror story, with an ACTUAL good story.

Definitely worth a watch. I would recommend it if you like logic and realism in your horror views.

Family therapy in Osage County??

[Howling_at_the_Moon_Reviews · 6/10 · 5 August 2022]

This one ended up being better than I thought it was going to be from first impression. This twisted family-drama thriller with a sprinkle of horror is set up in almost an anthology format, which I found interesting because the way they executed it, it felt different and somewhat fresh.

Chapter one was a tad confusing, felt like it moved very fast and didn't really draw me in. There was a lot of yelling and it became grating after a bit. Despite that, the acting was good from both the dad and the son, but I wasn't convinced as a whole. There were also some scenes that felt superfluous and were in there for shock/cringe value. I wish I could put my finger on it but it was my least favorite of all of them, but not necessarily unsuccessful.

I would encourage you to stick with it cause chapter two was when I started to enjoy myself. This had the best acting of the lot with the brother Eli really shining. I also found this to be the most interesting and engaging of the three sibling's stories.

Chapter three (the sister) and chapter 4 (the finale) blended together a little. The sisters backstory was... fine. She had me up and down with her acting. There were times when I was right there with her, and then she would throw me off with an odd delivery or a bitting of the lip. Regardless, I do think she did a good job overall. Also, it was nice to see Tony Hale do something different, good job.

The finale felt, very that... a finale. There were some (while not wildly original) fun and moderately unexpected twists and turns. It got exciting and I wish that had lasted a tad longer. With THAT being said, this movie did NOT need to be any longer... haha. The run time of two hours was a tad excessive and I think it would have been much more successful if it was trimmed down and more concise.

Some general observations... the movie looked very nice and professional, with a nice quality and some cool shots. I was hot and cold with the score. Sometimes I thought there were cool choices made and other times I was like can you turn that noise down or off it's distracting lol. Also I felt the script/ dialogue was a tad underdeveloped and sounded a bit juvenile/cliche at times.

As I said, over all I ended up liking this one more than I thought I would. You will definitely need some patience and be forgiving of some missteps but in total I found it to be an enjoyable experience with some spookiness, some thrills, some twists and turns, and some solid performances. Would recommend.

Disturbing

[bryanmartin1 · 6/10 · 3 September 2022]

This movie was twisted. Hard to watch and hard to stop watching. Without revealing any spoilers; this film visits some disturbing life potentials that most of us aren't exposed to but , unfortunately, we have known people who are. The dynamics across father, son, siblings....in a whacked out environment. Not really a horror film. More of a psychological thriller / drama.

Don't Really know how I feel after watching this. I think it's better than average. But, this is a strange flick. If you decide to watch it, allow yourself extra time to watch something else afterwards as I don't think you want to go to sleep thinking about this one. It's just weird.

A Real Slow Burner, But Worth The Wait.

[fatfil-414-451797 · 7/10 · 15 June 2023]

First up, I know this movie won't be to everyone's taste. It is a real slow burn, and the movie is a Drama/Thriller rather than horror.

Having said that, the acting is bordering on faultless for the four main characters, and the writing is top notch.

It is split into four parts, the first three following the three children, then the last part is the reunion. I don't think I'm giving away a plot point here, but the mother commits suicide and the family fractures. The father dominates one of his sons, but the other two move away.

It's hard to say too much else without giving away any anything, but. Despite its early disparity, it all comes together at the end. Sort of.

Not much of a horror film at all

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 2/10 · 23 October 2021]

After each receives a strange letter, the children of a strained family reunite to help sell the family farmhouse and put their tragic background to rest, but the longer they stay the more they realize that keeping the past buried will put everyone around them in danger.

There wasn't a whole lot to like here as there are some issues. Among the better qualities here is the film's focus on stranged family relationships between everyone that adds a sense of dread to the proceedings. As we're initially introduced to the two guys living on the farm with an antagonistic relationship between them, this sets the stage for the revelations to come later on once the other family members get together for their meetup and the darker secrets that are revealed. Seeing the way the other kids have turned out due to this later announcement which ties everything together as knowing what we do about the situation later on gives that context and clarity to how their lives have turned out including the one now involved with the criminals and the sister with her troubled marriage. There's some energy to the revelation sequence since this has some chasing and brutal kills which gives this part of the film a different tone and ends up holding this up overall. However, the problem that emerges here is that none of this is remotely interesting or scary. The multifaceted structure, featuring the lives of the two on the farm before going into the second part with the convict getting his mission in order, is barely related to the genre at all. A tortured family drama involving a father verbally abusing his slow son or a chaotic crime thriller featuring a luckless convict caught up in debt trying to trick a girl away from her gypsy parents aren't in the slightest bit scary, exciting or thrilling at all, keeping this one completely removed from any kind of genre activity for as long as it does. This is never dull at all, but with no focus on the genre conventions for nearly the entire time it's easy to lose interest here, which is the main drawback to be had here with very little genre qualities present.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Graphic Language.

Sins Payed in Full

[ntj-film · 9/10 · 5 August 2022]

A savage slice of southern gothic is an expertly concocted slow-burn, brimming with unease and dread.

It's true that the film is more noir like drama than straight up horror, which sadly means that the jumpscare crowd will probably downvote it excessively. I truly can't comprehend how horrorfans don't seem more open to embrace the various subgenres the films of fright has to offer - jumpscares, gore, slow-burn or whatever - as long as the product is competently made, what the difference. Try reading a few reviews first to get a feel for the material and maybe you won't feel so cheated.

Grim, bleak and utterly captivating, topped off by a pitchblack ending.

Hell I loved this film.

Well, it aint thrilling, nor was I horrified, so why is this listed as a "horror/thriller"?

[imseeg · 5/10 · 7 August 2022]

The good; beautifully photographed. It looks the part. I really appreciate that. The actors are acting well. But...

The bad: this story just doesnt want to get thrilling. The opposite is the case: I got bored halfway through.

Horror? What horror? Some horror elements are present but that doesnt make this a horror movie at all. It's the opposite of horror: boredom.

8/10. Recommended

[athanasiosze · 8/10 · 11 October 2022]

This is probably the best horror movie since HEREDITARY. It's difficult to categorize it though, because it is not purely horror. It's a horror/thriller/mystery and crime drama too. A multiple genre movie and the combination is successfful.

It's divided in three parts. The first part is not as good as the second and the third. Second part is my favorite. At the final part, some questions are answered but still this looked like an "open to interpretation" movie. I don't like much ambiguous movies, however, i did a research in Reddit and i think that i realised what happened here.

I suggest to watch this movie without reading any review, without knowing anything about the plot. It's very interesting, dark, bleak and well structured, like fine literature ( Maybe Joyce Carol Oates, Gillian Flynn, Cormac McCarthy influenced the writers). There are no cheap jump scares here, no serial killers with axes/chainsaws, no demons except the inner demons. This is not a movie for teenagers, some emotional maturity is required for appreciating it. Doom and gloom as it gets but still not overdramatic or excessive.

Every actor here is amazing, but Nick Stahl is excellent, primus inter pares. It's not a flawless movie but the flaws are not worth mentioning, just some details.

More a middling family drama rather than a horror

[eddie_baggins · 8 November 2022]

Since launching in 2015, horror streaming service Shudder has struggled to deliver big money drawcards to really break free of its cult fandom, with one of its latest acquisitions What Josiah Saw a genre piece that on paper seems set too be a breakout hit but upon witnessing it, many will agree that Shudder is still failing too bank on the right products should it look to gain the attention it craves.

Based off screenwriter Robert Alan Dilts script, director Vincent Grashaw here explores the messed up lives of the Graham family with Scott Haze's Thomas, Nick Stahl's Eli, Kelli Garner's Mary and Robert Patrick's family matriarch Josiah taking centre stage as they look set to reunite after years apart following the suicide of their mother.

Broken up into distinct chapters that explores firstly Thomas's extremely odd life living with Josiah, Eli's gypsy encountering troubles and Kelli's haunted life that is impacting her relationship with partner Ross (played by Tony Hale), What Josiah Saw is likely to be a film many willing viewers didn't expect it to be when they encountered its trailers and marketing materials with Grashaw and Dilts feature far more unnerving drama than straight up horror.

Saved in a major way by a last act that takes some intriguing and unexpected turns and feels like it belongs to a far more engaging film overall, the problem that is hard for What Josiah Saw to overcome is that for a large portion of its close to two hour running time, viewers will be wondering what the whole point of this exercise is with the segmented stories of the Graham family feeling disconnected and also pointless before the too late to save the day finale comes rolling around late in the piece.

Touching on trauma, broken hearts, the supernatural, missing person cases and even cursed gold, there's a lot happening in Grashaw's film but despite feeling like it's at home exploring the grimy and dirty underbelly of the human condition, you do wish there was more focus on What Josiah Saw becoming either a spine-tingling horror that it was purported to be or a more connected exploration of a broken family that manages to grip you with its dirty fingers, with the end product here being a more boorish exercise that only shows itself to be more worthy until it no longer matters in a meaningful way.

Final Say -

Far from a typical horror exercise that takes its sweet time delving into the not entirely engaging lives of the messed up Graham family, What Josiah Saw is not the film advertised and one that is only saved from the dire recesses of direct too streaming rubbish heap by a surprising last act that feels as though it's from a whole different film.

2 1/2 tractors out of 5

Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

quite the ride

[mickeyfan-26642 · 6/10 · 18 December 2023]

One of the better horror movies i have seen lately... it immediately draws you in and robert patrick does a great believable job as a drunken abusive dad. Nick stahl to me is the standout of the movie though... you believe him every step of the way from a convice that did his time and trying to have a fresh start after dealing with some gypsies. When he is reunited with his siblings tommy and mary things turn even bleaker and the end is quite shocking. I wasnt expecting the angle between mary and eli... so disturbing. The movie handles uncomfortable themes well and it will leave the viewer disgusted but also intrigued. I felt for the siblings and how their upbringing really messed up their lives.

Tooooooooooooo Long!

[gab-67599 · 4/10 · 4 August 2022]

This was one of those movies that you felt it went on forever and it did! Also a bit confusing at the end but whatever. I promise if you watch this you will regret it because the characters were forgettable, the story to strange to follow along with, and it was too slow!

Family Land...

[azathothpwiggins · 20 February 2024]

WHAT JOSIAH SAW is a supernatural horror film broken into three distinct parts.

Part One: The Ghost of Willow Road:- A young man (Scott Haze) struggles with his alcoholic, overbearing father (Robert Patrick). When dad receieves a "vision from God", things begin to change drastically on their ruined property.

Part Two: Eli and the Gypsies- A low-level crook (Nick Stahl) has one last chance to redeem himself, or face the deadly consequences of his mounting debts. Roped into a plot involving Romany gold, he finds himself involved in something far more complicated than any heist, with paranormal implications. This segment plays like something directed by Tarantino or the Coen Brothers. Arguably the best part of the movie.

Part Three: Mary, May I?- Mary (Kelli Garner) and her husband go through the process of adopting a child. When an unexpected visitor shows up, Mary is drawn back to her past, ushering in the disturbing climax of the movie.

This is a well-made, suspenseful, and utterly bizarre film. It's an anthology movie of sorts, with the seemingly separate pieces coming together at the end. It definitely has its creepy moments, and the story and characters are engaging.

Highly recommended for those looking for something a bit different from the usual horror fare...

What Josiah Saw Review

[ethantoy · 6/10 · 22 August 2022]

What Josiah Saw is a strongly engaging horror-drama film that invokes particular emotions over family trauma and grief- whilst it is not the most scariest of these types of films, it does rustle up some hairs and creates a sense of morbidity.

It's a good film with intervals that intertwine into a coherent plot that can be somewhat filled in through the viewer's minds. Of course, it is not perfect by any means of the imagination, but it's pretty good as a long horror film that can be throughly enjoyed for the context.

While I have particular complaints, I believe there were some missing pieces to a much more complex story than what we were given on screen, and it can be noticeable at certain scenes themselves.

All in all, I could recommend the movie to most avid horror fans but I do however feel that it should be stated there isn't much scare here as there is interest and curiosity, and that's not always a bad thing.

Thriller is great but not horror

[olcayozfirat · 6/10 · 9 December 2022]

Horror-like thriller made in 2022. It has the subject of reckoning with a family's past traumas. The movie consists of 4 parts. Each of the 3 episodes introduces the siblings. The 4th part is the final part. The atmosphere and music for the thriller in the movie are fine. Although it distracts attention from time to time, it draws back and makes you wonder. I'm sure some people will like the movie very much, while others will not like it at all. In the comments I read after the movie, there are also those who praise the movie and give it 10 points, and those who evaluate it as bad and give it 1 point. The movie is slightly above average in my opinion.

I have a few questions in mind. Why is the gold stolen from these gypsies cursed, and even Eli, who needs money like crazy, doesn't buy that gold?

The other question is the detail of the child kidnapped by the gypsies. How did Eli, who was branded as a pedophile, know that the child was kidnapped? Why did he aim to save the child?

As for the finale, the audience only learns that the father died here. Since the father is dead, Eli blames the rape of his sister on his father. But even the fortune teller had seen it and told Eli, your mother is on fire because of you. Besides, he's still inclined towards little girls. Due to the incestuous relationship between the two children, the girl becomes pregnant. Learning this, the mother commits suicide. Because the father is already cruel to the children, the children also kill the father. The purest of them all cheats and drives away his wife. He also had a very fond childhood of his mother. He returns to his old home after being fired by his wife. If the house is bought by the oil company, it will be in the middle. But she also knows that her brothers will approve of the sale. She expects losing mother and father and being alone by throwing it on the other two. She knows old events too. When they come to the old house, they both kill them.

That's how I understood it.

There is too much sex and nudity in the movie.

dark, familiar genetics...

[ops-52535 · 5/10 · 4 August 2022]

Psychological, socalled horror wuzz, the musical score tells the story better than the director, and the lightmaster has forgotten all about lightsettings learnt at the filmacademy. Its a grey and dark and rather twisted fable about madness and greed, in a sort of anthology storytelling, but was i ever horrored? Not so much by the acts, more from the enervating mind screwing whistling musical score. So when the light is low, its hard for the headphotographer to maintain a high quality of shooting pictures, the stock used in daylight is a delight the rest succumbs in the mist of how will i knowness.

A film that i will dedicate to the headwrestling critics and the guild of psychiatrist and other headdoctors, for the grumpy old man it was too slow too long and am still mystified by the story.

What a movie

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 21 November 2022]

Internet movie criticism is filled with people rushing to champion subpar movies into something beyond what they are while well-made films like What Josiah Saw remain unchampioned.

Directed by Vincent Grashaw and written by Robert Alan Dilts, this Southern gothic is a dark journey into the pain within one family. As the Graham clan -- Eli (Nick Stahl), Thomas (Scott Haze) and Mary (Kelli Garner), forever under the shadow of their father Josiah (Robert Patrick) reunite at their remote farmhouse, they must finally face up to the secrets and sins of the past.

In the first chapter, we meet Josiah and Thomas as they fight to keep the family farm from being bought out despite it being haunted by the ghost of Josiah's wife who hung herself. Josiah ends this segment by, well no easy way to say it, but making his son masturbate his demons out in front of him before telling him that the family must reckon with their sins.

In the second part, Eli must pay a debt to a crime lord by being part of stealing gold from a gypsy-led carnival, which leads to a reading of his future that claims that he'll die soon before all hell breaks loose. The tense moments in this are near-overwhelming.

Then, Mary and her husband Ross (a near-anonymous Tony Hale from Arrested Development) have a tense dinner part where their need to have children is discussed. She's had a trauma in her past and had her tubes tied; now she wants a child. Or maybe her husband does. Or maybe they just think they do. It's true horror, the most real of all.

You may wonder, "Where is the actual horrific horror?" I thought the very same thing until the final segment which brings the entire family together for the last time. As this film jumps from drama to crime to terror, it unites itself with a strong story and assured direction.

I was stunned by this movie and really want you to go in as unprepared for the ending as I was. That said, I want more people to be watching and experiencing this, a film I truly believe in.

Please Stop Calling Films Horror When They're NOT

[horrorfaninusa · 4/10 · 14 August 2022]

First of all, sinister ambience (which weren't even that many scenes), good acting and ominous soundtrack does not make a film a horror film. This film is anything but horror.

Yes, there are certain scenes that some people could find quite disturbing but, it's pretty unlikely that they will scare the hell out of you or cause you to sleep with the lights on at night. That's what a REAL horror film does to you and this film is nowhere near it.

Second, I didn't like the way it was shot as if it was an anthology. Especially the second part felt superfluous and could be cut almost entirely which could solve the lengthy running time of this flick. Two hours is unnecessarily long for this type of film and it shows especially at the halfway mark it just drags on and on.

Third, the characters were neither interesting nor relatable for me. I wasn't invested in anyone so, I really didn't care about what happened to any of them which took away the suspense and that's the last thing you want to happen to your audience as a director.

Lastly, I feel like many writers and directors don't really understand the horror genre at all and therefore they're clueless about what the audience expects from them.

Streaming networks know what's going on but you can't really market everything suspense/drama and keep subscribers so, they started slapping "Horror" almost under every new title just to be on the safe side.

This is starting to become a trend, calling films "Horror" that actually have nothing or very little to do with it and it's really starting to get on my nerves. I hope they stop doing that or horror film sales will take a nose dive pretty soon.

Overall, if you are in the mood for a really scary flick, don't be tricked by the fabricated hype because this ain't it. But if you have nothing else to do and want to watch something that'll help you sleep then go ahead and watch it. This film is so slow and boring, I bet it could cure your insomnia.

Gritty, dark, thoroughly enjoyable.

[strfrank · 8/10 · 6 August 2022]

Seeing that this barely has had any audience I'm amazed how controversily it has been recieved in the reviews:

In my eyes the movie doesn't qualify as a horror flick, but it is a pure bred thriller. For most it might be a little rough to enjoy the storyline, as we're being dealt a missfit set of characters that are hard to empathize with. But it's exactly their consistency therein, that make this movie a fantastic gut wrencher. All sibilings deal with their childhood trauma in a unique way, that in itself forms a picture that the viewer might be able to puzzle together before its penultimate conclusion.

I'm quite sure that most people will be surprised how good this movie actually is, therefore I recommend seeing it.

Too long in places and the beginning is a bit disjointed.

[bbates024 · 5/10 · 16 August 2022]

At first it felt so disconnected I thought it was an anthology instead of a movie. It got a little better but not enough where I'd recommend it or watch it again.

We get it- families sometimes suck

[rodbone123 · 5/10 · 19 December 2022]

Ok, so it's a family drama first of all. I don't know why this movie is being touted as a horror film, maybe because I'm horrified that I sat through the whole damn thing only to say that the "twist" has been done before- with less boring and quite frankly tiring build up. Yes, it's well made, but the ending didn't justify the bloody long journey to get there. The "horror " element will shock and appal those who live under a nice, comfortable rock. Everyone else will let out a resounding MEH and wish they tuned into something else. I really didn't find this movie particularly original or entertaining.

Deserves a much higher rating. I hope more people get to see it

[aratron-00391 · 10/10 · 5 August 2022]

The individual chapters would have made interesting films on there own. My favorite sequence was with Nick Stahl and Jake Webber. Both gave excellent performances. All involved really performed well. The score was really appropriate and provided that feeling of dread and tension. Please stick with the film it takes a little time to get going but a real payoff will be enjoyed with this Gem. I do hope more folks get to see it. The film deserves a much higher rating ignore the haters.

Ignore the haters

[otiscarter · 9/10 · 27 August 2022]

Outstanding. An true example of the notion that horror as a genre can be as meaningful and thought-provoking as any other. Incredibly disappointed to see reviews denouncing the movie for its length or lack of jump scares. Watched it over a week ago and have been thinking about it every day since. A must see for any believer in the idea that horror can be an art form. Acting and cinematography worthy of any Hollywood blockbuster. A must watch for any horror aficionado. I truly do not understand how any viewer could challenge the suggestion that this is a horror film - it instigated and cultivates a sense of dread and despair more as good as (or, in fact, better) any mainstream release of the last two or so decades.

This movie sucks!!!!

[juanita-70291 · 1/10 · 21 August 2022]

No horror anywhere and was slow to get to the point. No action really and I'm just overall disappointed.

Parts of the storyline was pointless. The beginning was very slow. It dragged throughout the whole movie.

Where are these good reviews coming from because I didn't see what everyone else saw. To each it's own.