Elijah Wood's Bonkers 86-Minute Psychological Thriller Is a Horror Movie You Can't Unsee

Published May 3, 2026, 7:58 AM EDT

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Mark (Elijah Wood) loses his mom (Ashley Crow) five minutes into the movie. While his father, Jack (David Morse) is out of the country on business, Mark is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in New England for a few weeks. That includes spending time with his cousins Henry (Macaulay Culkin) and Connie (Quinn Culkin). From the moment Aunt Susan (Wendy Crewson) and Uncle Wallace (Daniel Hugh Kelly) arrive on screen, they might be the worst parents ever. Needless to say, Elijah Wood holds his own, going tit-for-tat with the sociopathic Macaulay Culkin. It's safe to say that if Wood doesn't execute this brilliant performance in the role of Mark, we may never see him as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings.

‘The Good Son’ Pits the Beloved Elijah Wood Against the Lunacy of Macaulay Culkin

Give casting director Deborah Aquila a garden of flowers, because she took advantage of what audiences had seen in the years leading up to The Good Son. Macaulay had just concluded his onscreen torture of Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern through two straight Home Alone films, and as funny as that may sound, it was clear that Culkin had the range to pull off a sociopath like Henry. Aquila also had the wherewithal to land Elijah Wood as the film's protagonist. What's even more impressive is that Culkin and Wood were both in their pre-teens while shooting, and both handled the darker subject matter with poise and maturity.

Elijah Wood Delivers a Career-Defining Child Performance

It becomes apparent once Mark begins hanging out with Henry that something is very off. Henry's hobbies include shooting animals with rusty bolts, causing car accidents, and picking off his own family members one by one. The most frustrating part of the entire film is that his parents are absolutely oblivious to Henry's pathological behavior. Unfortunately, nobody, including the therapist, believes anything negative or disparaging that Mark has to say about Henry. By the time Susan and Wallace come around, it's already too little, too late. Once Mark realizes that he's the only thing standing in Henry's way, their rivalry reaches a boiling point.

Elijah Wood turns in a gut-wrenching performance that is cool, calm, and collected until the film's final chapter. Henry's ultimate goal is to end his mother's life and take away the only maternal being that Mark has left. And kudos to Culkin for his chilling portrayal. The movie centers around the theme of good versus evil, not only between the leading characters, but also within each human. Henry even wears two different kinds of shoes simultaneously, one black, one white. This was done intentionally, as he is the one clearly living two separate lives.

The Brutal Ending of 'The Good Son,' Explained

Image via Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Mark pleads his case to Susan and Wallace, but his warnings about Henry fall on deaf ears. Henry then suggests that he and his mother take a walk to clear the air, supposedly. That's when the film's iconic and heart-pounding finale starts to take shape. Mark follows the two out to a cliff that overhangs the ocean below. After tackling Henry, both boys dangle from the cliff, their lives literally hanging in the balance. As Susan holds the two, one in each arm, she has a choice to make. This scene surprisingly takes longer than it should, knowing what she now knows. Save her own son, who not only tried killing her, but attempted to murder his sister, and successfully drowned his brother? Or save her nephew, who has done absolutely nothing to harm anyone?

What's more impressive is that Elijah Wood came out on the other side of the movie and child stardom in general unscathed. His performance as Mark would lead to a role in the 1998 sci-fi horror flick, The Faculty, and from there, the sky was the limit. This twisted thriller laid a strong foundation for Wood, who eventually became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. His resume is glowing with titles such as The Lord of the Rings, Green Street Hooligans, and Wilfred. But it's easy to see that it marked a key turning point with The Good Son.

Release Date September 24, 1993

Runtime 87 minutes

Director Joseph Ruben