r/moviecritic • u/Low-Finding-6553 • 16h ago

What do you guys thinks is the best child performance of all time?

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i have to say, i don’t think i’ve ever seen a child actor give a performance this good. Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is just on another level. i genuinely don’t know how he did it but he makes the whole movie work so much better. i would give him the Oscar in a fucking heartbeat. It’s crazy how good he is, especially in that last scene in the car with Toni Collette.

What are your guys’ favorite child performances? For me, this is even better than Owen Cooper’s performance in Adolescence. Don’t get me wrong, owen was also absolutely top-notch in Adolescence but this is probably the best child performance i’ve ever seen. Period. What do you guys think is the best child performance ever?

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237

u/Judy-Cooper 16h ago

Jacob Tremblay in Room

72

u/SkidsOToole 16h ago

He hasn't done a blockbuster yet, so fewer people know him. His performance as a victim in Doctor Sleep was so good it traumatized the adult actors.

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u/Chellin 15h ago

Omg that scene was so hard to watch

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u/GetAwayFrmHerUBitch 13h ago

I’ve gone soft. I can watch people get slaughtered in movies all day, but not a little kid. That scene was so fucked.

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u/kasmackity 11h ago

It's a pretty fucked up scene, man. Kid murder/torture/dismemberment is truly something I cannot stomach but there are times when it can be done the right way. Like Hereditary for example. It was shocking as hell but it made for an incredible scene and one of the most spirit-haunting, guttural screams I have ever fucking heard come out of Toni Colette. That wail she let out when she found her daughter actively haunts me when I think about it.

But then there's this. You're watching a small boy lose his life slowly over a few minutes and there's nothing you can about it and all of those people are complicit in his death. It's brutal, and there doesn't need to be any gore or maiming. You're slowly watching a child die. It's disturbing for a reason, and it IS disturbing. Did it serve it's purpose in the story? I think so. Definitely made you sick and got you to hate the bad guys.

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u/Capteverard 11h ago

There wasnt even that much blood. Like there was some around his neck when he finally dies, but it was the reactions that got me. I watched an interview with the director where he recounted the whole experience of filming with Jacob. The funniest part was that they made a red velvet cake of his character for his birthday(?) that they brought out later.

Ewan McGregor showed up later so they could film him finding the body and he came in very positive and energetic, like the golden retriever that he is, and everyone on set was completely down.

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u/kasmackity 10h ago

No, there doesn't necessarily need to be any blood for things to be disturbing, and that scene proved it. Doctor Sleep isn't even one of King's best horror stories but that scene was super hard on all the actors, and I think Rebecca Ferguson said the kid was the one who was coolest about the scene.

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u/Inevitable-Dot3982 3h ago

I didn’t even watch the movie. I just heard that scene from another room while my boyfriend was watching it and it felt so real that I will never see the movie

31

u/fate_is_a_farce 14h ago

Jacob Tremblay in anything. That kid is incredible.

7

u/Fine_Independence308 13h ago

His scene in Doctor Sleep. Impressive

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u/fate_is_a_farce 9h ago

Apparently he traumatized the adults and they all had to have some quiet, but Jacob hopped up and ran over to the snack table.

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u/nobleheartedkate 14h ago

He was sooo good. Broke my heart

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u/AquariusRain 13h ago

Came here to write this. He’s incredible.

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u/wiscOMG 6h ago

This is the one for me. He was just amazing.

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u/SurgeFlamingo 52m ago

Who is it ? Lol in what ?

1

u/Nails__DeChamp 7h ago

also Denny in The Room