SAM Rockwell has long been an actor we’ve admired, following winning performances alongside George Clooney in Welcome To Collinwood and, most notably, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

His latest film is getting strong advance word ahead of its appearance at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Entitled Joshua, it follows the fortunes of Abby (Vera Farmiga) and Brad (Rockwell) Cairn as they return to their Upper West Side apartment with their newborn second child, Lily.

Gathered with grandparents and their precocious, piano-prodigy son Joshua, they seem like the picture of middle class satisfaction. But then things start to turn sour…

The already high-strung Abby is determined to do everything perfectly and without outside help, but construction starts in the apartment upstairs, the baby cries constantly and the always remote Joshua seems to be acting strangely, even for him.

Directed by George Ratliff from a screenplay he co-wrote with David Gilbert, Joshua is said to offer a slyly subversive take on family dynamics.

According to the LA Film Festival website: “George Ratliff’s narrative debut takes everyday fears and insecurities and ratchets them to the level of a taut horror/thriller, punctuated with small moments of black comedy. Joshua is certainly behaving in a disturbing manner, practicing Egyptian embalming techniques on his formerly beloved teddy bear and telling his father, “you don’t have to love me”. But does he actually have something to do with the odd accidents befalling the family or is to even think that a symptom of postpartum depression and stress?”

It continues: “To create psychological drama with real jolts and chills but without supernatural effects, cast is key. Vera Farmiga is disturbingly convincing as the hysterical Abby, and Sam Rockwell is heartbreaking as the frazzled Brad, trying to keep things together both in his high-pressure office and his nightmarish home. In the title role, Jacob Kogan keeps everyone guessing with his perfectly contained incarnation of the scariest movie kid in recent memory.”

Expect Joshua to feature even more prominently in the festival circuit if strong word of mouth turns into positive reviews in LA.

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