FAQ

It isn't explicitly stated in the movie, but it's implied that she passed away from cancer. In the scene where Henry offers Mark a cigarette, the latter declines and says, "they give you cancer." This suggests what could've contributed to his mother's death.

Following the death of his mother, 12-year old Mark Evans (Elijah Wood) goes to stay with his cousins Henry (Macaulay Culkin) and Connie (Quinn Culkin) while his father is away on a business trip in Tokyo. At first, Henry and Mark have fun together until Henry starts revealing an evil side to his character. When Henry voices his intent to kill Connie, Mark tries to alert his aunt Susan (Wendy Crewson) and his grief counselor (Jacqueline Brookes), but they don't believe him and conclude that it is Mark who is psychologically disturbed.

The Good Son is based on a screenplay written by English novelist/screenwriter Ian MacEwan. However, the movie was subsequently novelized as 'The Good Son' (1993) by American author Todd Strasser and is available from Pocket Books.

Most viewers say no and interpret this scene as an attempt on Henry's part to make Mark freak out. Both boys woke up in the middle of night and went down to the fridge to get a snack, and Henry took the opportunity to use it against Mark.

Most viewers agree that Mark is the good son and that Henry is evil. However, some viewers oddly maintain that, since the story is told from Mark's point of view, the details could be skewed or presented in his favor. They suggest that Mark planned all along to discredit Henry so that he (Mark) could have Susan as a replacement for his own mother. The dialogue between Henry and Susan and the ending scenes don't seem to support that suggestion, but it's up to each viewer to determine how they wish to interpret the movie.

Several scenes showing Macaulay Culkins character dropping a life-like puppet from a bridge, causing a big traffic accident, were censored due to the fear of imitation.

The Good Son is often compared to The Bad Seed (1956) (1956) (remake The Bad Seed (1985) (1985)) and Orphan (2009) (2009), other movies that feature children who are not the little innocents they seem to be. Similar movies include The Omen (1976) (1976) (remake The Omen (2006) (2006)), Village of the Damned (1960) (1960) (remake Village of the Damned (1995) (1995), Mikey (1992) and Case 39 (2009) (2009).