YMMV / The Good Son

• Angst Aversion: Even those who praised the film admitted that it was too intense to sit through. The fact that a toddler is murdered (albeit off-screen) doesn't help either.
• Awesome Music: For all its faults, the movie does have a wonderful soundtrack provided by the late Elmer Bernstein.
• Catharsis Factor: Considering how much of a vile little shit Henry is, this is one of those very rare occasions people wouldn't mind seeing a child die.
• Complete Monster: Henry Evans, having a disturbing attraction towards death and the idea of murder, built a philosophy around himself that stated that if people were to rid themselves of their morals, then they are free to do any evil acts that they wanted to do without such concepts holding them back. Prior to the main plot, Henry murdered his own younger brother in the bathtub just because he had happened to be playing with a toy that belonged to him. He then goes on to convince his cousin, Mark, into helping him throw a dummy dubbed "Mr. Highway" from a bridge, resulting in massive car accidents. He also shot and killed an innocent dog with a nail gun from a distance and he also attempted to drown his sister in a frozen lake when they were skating together. When Henry's mother was beginning to realize that her son was a remorseless sociopath, she decided to send him to a mental institution so that he could get the help that he needed. Unwilling to lose his freedom to do bad, Henry decided that his family needed to die so that he could be free to do whatever he wanted.
• Cult Classic: In a sense: The film is still looked down upon poorly but has garnered a small audience, mainly due to Macaulay Culkin playing an evil role.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: There is a good chance that Mark could be sent to a juvenile detention center after the events of the movie as everyone, except Susan, has written him off as a nutcase due to Henry's manipulations. Furthermore, Susan could get into serious problems with her marriage the minute she tries to explain to her husband what happened to Henry. Also, even if Mark's name gets cleared and Susan's marriage escapes unscathed, she could end up gradually resenting him later on because by choosing the life of her husband's nephew over that of her remaining son, Susan destroyed any hope of rehabilitating her own flesh and blood.
• Evil Is Cool: Henry himself. Even those who disliked the film agreed that he was quite memorable, claiming that Macaulay Culkin nailed it in his portrayal.
• Fridge Horror: Just how much abuse has Connie suffered over the years at the hands of Henry?
• He Really Can Act: Macaulay Culkin, who is mostly known for playing comedic and mischievous kids, absolutely nails his portrayal of a psychopathic monster with zero empathy as Henry Evans. He delivers quite a few lines with a very chilling tone.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Wallace is the most dislikable character in the film due to both his stupidity in failing to recognize his son's Obviously Evil behavior and his borderline abusive treatment of his nephew. On the other hand, Henry himself is beloved by viewers due to Macaulay Culkin's disturbingly authentic portrayal of a sociopathic killer. It also helps that Henry at least gets his comeuppance at the end of the film, whereas Wallace completely gets away with his actions of borderline child abuse.
• Moral Event Horizon: Henry drowned his baby brother. Over a toy.
• Love to Hate: Macaulay Culkin's portrayal of a psychopathic preteen was so authentic that viewers found Henry to be highly memorable.
• Narm:
  • Henry falling to his death could have been pretty dramatic if it wasn't for the fact that there's no way in the world young Macaulay Culkin screaming doesn't remind you of Kevin McCallister.
  • All of the creepy scenes of Henry with any of the adults would have been effective if they weren't so dumb and oblivious.
  • Really, the fact that the movie constantly hones in on the fact that Henry is evil and refuses to make it subtle is fairly narmy.
  • Susan slapping Mark and then hugging him immediately afterwards. It's a mystery what emotion they were going for.
  • "Hey Mark,...don't fuck with me." Just hearing that from a child, especially the Home Alone kid, is kind of funny in its own way.
• Questionable Casting: The film was criticized for choosing Macaulay Culkin to play the main villain since he was famous for his leading roles in kid-friendly films and Contractual Purity. While Culkin's performance isn't his best, he is the best fit for the role since Culkin's career was weaponized to fool the audience into believing he's the hero or at least innocent in the story. While this would reflect the traits of a sociopath (playing innocent to lure in victims or to evade consequences), this was the movie's downfall as people genuinely thought the movie was directed at kids due to Culkin's presence and were outraged by the manipulative marketing.
• The Scrappy: Wallace is well-hated by viewers for refusing to believe his nephew about his son, even locking him up after Henry pulls a Wounded Gazelle Gambit. The fact that he gets away with it hasn't done any favors.
• Special Effect Failure: When Henry shoves his mother off the cliff at the end and she catches a branch halfway down, the cable holding her up is clearly visible.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Many viewers note that the film's premise about an evil boy isn't bad at all. It's just that Henry is so over-the-top and nothing but pure one-dimensional evil, and the film does nothing to explore the implications and reasons behind a child being that way. We Need to Talk About Kevin and Orphan are generally considered to execute similar premises much better.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: Elijah Wood gives a pretty sincere performance for this movie, which is more than what can be said for Macaulay Culkin, who appears to be phoning it in.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: Many critics decried the casting of Macaulay Culkin in the role thanks to his kid-friendly Home Alone series, many children hero-worshiped him and marketing research indicated extreme interest by children in the film entirely because of Culkin's presence (not helped by the film getting namedropped in kid magazines like Disney Adventures). If the number of anecdotes by people mentioning this film gave them nightmares indicates, they probably saw it anyway in spite of the R-rating. People don't like it when you weaponize the break from Contractual Purity.
• The Woobie:
  • Definitely Mark, he lost his mother. Then it looks like he's going to bond with his cousin Henry, only to find out that Henry is Ax-Crazy. Then when he tries to warn everyone about Henry, they think he's the one who's crazy.
  • Connie is in the Iron Woobie territory. She'd have to be strong to live with a monster like Henry her whole life.
  • Susan takes the cake. First her youngest son, Richard (who was still only a toddler) drowns in the bathtub (which she believed to be her fault), then her daughter is nearly killed after falling through thin ice. After she finds out her other son is a total sociopath who was responsible for both of these incidents, he tries to kill her too and she winds up having to drop him off a cliff in order to save both herself and her nephew. Even though her son was a murderous Psychopath, she genuinely loved her son and will mourn him just as she did Richard.

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