Synopsis
Alice, a single mother who is more dedicated to her work as a genetic engineer than to her teenage son Joe, develops a new variety of flower that is supposed to have the ability to make its owner happy thanks to its special chemical properties.
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Cast
- Emily BeechamAlice
- Ben WhishawChris
- Kerry FoxBella
- Kit ConnorJoe
- David WilmotKarl
- Phénix BrossardRic
- Sebastian HülkIvan
- Lindsay DuncanPsychotherapist
- Jessie Mae AlonzoSelma
- Andrew RajanJasper
- 83
The A.V. Club
Visually, it’s a total feast for the eyes, contrasting art-deco pinks and mint greens against sterile, symmetrically framed expanses of white, vaguely evoking the aesthetic of some lost sci-fi film of the ’70s. - 80
Variety
An artfully unnerving, austerely hypnotic horror movie about a very sinister plant. - 70
Screen Daily
Boldly synthetic in its approach, in everything from colour palette to performance style, this film won’t be for everyone. And the fact that it defies easy categorisation might present a marketing challenge. But for those who engage with it, this oddly off-kilter piece of storytelling should exert a pull every bit as mesmerising as any genetically modified mood-enhancing shrub. - 70
TheWrap
[A] sci-fi head trip ... If the film can be somewhat unsubtle in its thematic questions, it matches that with an equally loud color palette – and you know what, that’s perfectly fine. - 70
Los Angeles Times
This is a quietly insinuating picture with, by my estimation, one good jump scare, a lot of queasy chuckles and an overall atmosphere of slow, creeping, heavily perfumed rot. - 67
The Playlist
With its capable cast and sterile aesthetic in tow, “Little Joe” commands the bleak futurism of a “Black Mirror” episode, yet with slightly more muted drama. - 60
The Telegraph
The film itself never exudes much heat: it’s a chilly, impeccable diagram. - 60
CineVue
Compared to the sophisticated and nuanced horrors of Black Mirror, Little Joe feels like a fairly straightforward riff on a very familiar idea.