Released in 1993, The Good Son had a turbulent journey to cinema screens, beset by rewrites, production changes, and Hollywood-driven casting politics. However, despite its tumultuous journey, The Good Son remains a fascinating exploration of ‘90s attitudes toward children and crime, and of the box-office success of subverting the wholesome image of a child star. The Good Son was a mainstream film that not only dared to say that children can and do hurt others, but also to do this within a Hollywood system obsessed with the mischievous, light-hearted, and fun side of childhood.
The Good Son began its cinematic journey when novelist Ian McEwan (The Cement Garden) was asked to develop a screenplay for 20th Century Fox about a child committing ‘evil’ acts. McEwan agreed to the project, but only on the condition that his work explore the psychological dimensions of childhood crime – rejecting the notion of evil in favour of a more balanced exploration of childhood offending. The result was a screenplay focusing on a 12-year-old boy sent to live with his aunt and uncle following the death of his mother, only to discover that his cousin was involved in acts of harm toward others.
The screenplay was immediately snapped up by the independent producer Many Anne Page, and McEwan’s work quickly did the rounds of the Hollywood studio circuit. However, nobody would touch it, including Universal, which initially showed interest but quickly dropped it due to a lack of appetite for its themes.
The Good Son would bounce around for years, until 1991, when the thriller was once again dominant at the box office, with Cape Fear, The Silence of the Lambs, and Sleeping with the Enemy all bringing in healthy box-office returns. In addition, a new generation of child actors was emerging, demonstrating studios’ ability to generate large box-office returns from pint-sized performers who appealed to adults and children alike. This change in public appetite led 20th Century Fox to re-examine the original McEwan screenplay, finally giving the green light for the project to begin preproduction.
Initially conceived as a low-budget psychological thriller, the production found a Director in Michael Lehmann (Heathers), and a young lead in Jesse Bradford (Presumed Innocent) as the psychologically damaged Henry. However, high up at 20th Century Fox, discussions were underway to secure Macaulay Culkin for 1992’s Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and unknown to the director or Bradford, The Good Son was to become a bargaining chip. Kit Culkin (Macaulay’s father and manager) demanded a two-picture deal from 20th Century Fox and particularly liked the idea of The Good Son, and so Macaulay was cast.
Jesse Bradford was out, and Macaulay Culkin was in, delaying the filming of The Good Son to post Home Alone 2 – a delay that would also open the door to Elijah Wood (Forever Young and Radio Flyer) for the role of Mark. These casting choices would bring together two of the most recognisable and successful child stars of 1990s Hollywood, ensuring broad box-office appeal for Fox, while changing the course of the film and its subject matter.
As preproduction ramped up and The Good Son morphed from a psychological thriller to a potential cash cow for Fox, McEwan’s screenplay came under scrutiny. Rewrites were agreed upon that simplified the overarching story, stripping back the psychological content to a simpler ‘evil’ child premise and, in turn, providing a more palatable good vs bad journey for mainstream audiences.
These changes led McEwan to step back from the filmmaking process while remaining credited on-screen as the writer. In addition, Lehmann stepped down as Director, to be replaced by Joseph Ruben (Sleeping with the Enemy), who brought a more mainstream studio focus to the revised screenplay and the bankable child stars leading the movie.
Released in the US in September 1993, The Good Son was banned in the UK, following the horrific murder of James Bulger in 1992 and the subsequent trial. In the US, the film received mixed critical reception upon its release; however, it is important to note that reception did not dent its box-office pull.
Despite healthy returns from fans eager to see a child star subvert their wholesome image, the biggest problem for The Good Son was the dramatic changes to the script and broader vision, which are evident in the final product. The Good Son never knew whether it was a psychological thriller exploring childhood offending, animal harm, and manipulation, or a good-kid-versus-evil-kid horror. It became so consumed with the child stars at its heart that it lost its way, and even the subversion of their wholesome images feels like a studio executives’ committee managed it.
We will never know the power inherent in McEwan’s original screenplay, or whether The Good Son could have been one of the finest and most controversial thrillers of the ‘90s, had different artistic and casting choices been made. However, that does not mean there isnt some fascinating material in The Good Son, or that the performances by Culkin and Wood aren’t compelling.
There are several scenes in which The Good Son bravely explores the manipulation that children can exert over one another. When Henry gleefully kills a local dog with a bolt gun, Mark becomes an accomplice through fear in the disposal of the dog’s body down a well. Here, Henry draws Mark into a secret, dark act of destruction, one he knows Mark cannot explain to adults without incriminating himself.
Meanwhile, in discussions, Henry uses Mark’s grieving process to exploit his vulnerability, reflecting the complex psychology of childhood manipulation in building control. The Good Son was never going to deliver an American version of Michael Haneke’s 1992 independent Austrian-Swiss film Benny’s Video; however, it did demonstrate a studio system edging towards a darker exploration of childhood psychology, and for that, it should be commended.
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