Who payed the critics

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Damian Harris directs/writes this sad and eye opening drama. At the age of eight, Leslie Whitehead(Ryan Simpkins)is kidnapped by a scheming man named Alex(Tom Arnold)and his young partner Frank(Kevin Zegers). Alex will tell the girl that her parents no longer want her and can have a better life without her. She and another victim named Donnie(Jermaine Scooter Smith)are forced into child prostitution and pornography. The two will try to cope by pretending they are in an imaginary world based on The Jungle Book. After about nine years of horror the two are dumped on the streets. Now Leslie(Gillian Jacobs)and Donnie(Evan Ross) have only each other to depend on. They will survive the streets the best they know how...prostitution. Thanks to a shelter counselor(John Malkovich), Leslie tries to return to her parents. But will this be a success? The teen will wonder if Donnie just disappeared or met mishap. Haunting, sad and disgraceful. The Harris bases GARDEN of the NIGHT on two years of personal research. Arnold is outstanding in the role. Also in the cast: Harold Perrineau, Jeremy Sisto and Landall Goolsby.

This movie is a must see for people who want to better understand the horrors of human trafficking that's happening right under our noses. It's hauntingly beautiful, the acting is done extremely well. The child actors gave an amazing job despite their young age, when most children don't understand that trafficking has a much darker meaning then driving a car. It's not for people who have to have a happy ending, but the realistic plot is what I think makes it such a good film. Where some directors would go for the wow factor and show the horrible things done to the victims, especially minors, this director did not. He displayed it in a way where you understand what's happening enough to leave it up to the imagination, which in my opinion makes it even more haunting. The most amazing part of the movie is how despite the darkness of the plot happiness still shines through. The part where the two leads are dancing together in a moment of freedom and happiness is one of the most heartwarming scenes I have ever seen. The relationship between the two leads as a whole is amazing. One of my all time favorite movies, 10/10!!

This subject matter deserves a much better script, and final result, than this movie serves up. The script is full of holes because it was never conceived as a story, but rather a string of nightmare scenarios loosely knitted together. The gaps and loose ends in the story line are numerous. The scene where the kidnap victim is told that her parents are not dead, and have been looking for her since she was taken, is just bizarre. It is written as a cathartic therapy moment with the head of the shelter for runaways handing her a "missing poster" from when she was eight. In the real world, if the head of a shelter for runaways found out that he had, under his roof, a solved kidnapping, what would have followed would have been an immediate call to the police. It's a law enforcement issue not a 12 minute segment for Oprah. Everything that follows from there to the end is so short shrift that I can only conclude that the first 90 minutes was for pure gratuitous exploitation. Funny, that's what this movie is supposed to be condemning. In the end it seems to have joined in.

"Gardens of the Night" is about two children, Leslie and Donnie, kidnapped by two men and their lives together. It's directed by newcomer Damian Harris who based his story on the kids, counselors, police officers, and pimps that he met during his two years of research. His years of perfecting the story was seen in how well made this movie was. As a parent, I felt the pain of what would happen if my child was taken and having to endure the horrors that these children did for over nine years. After they get too old, they are dumped by their captors and left to fend for themselves. The actors did an amazing job bringing this script to life. The two children, Rayn Simpkins and Jermaine Scooter Smith, who play the young Leslie and Donnie really showed the pain that children who have dealt with this probably felt. I was impressed on how well they did for being so young. I was glad that they didn't get too graphic on the parts when the children had to do deal with pedophiles because I probably would have nightmares for awhile thinking about how this really happens every day. The director was able to make his point across without showing too much. Some other directors would have gone for the shock factor, so I am glad that he was smart enough to realize that he would have lost his audience doing that. The cinematography was great because it didn't look like it was made in a fancy studio. It gave the feel like you were actually there with them throughout the entire ordeal. I also like how they show how this is usually a vicious cycle that occurs and that it usually doesn't just end. You expect a big, happy ending where everything is perfect at the end, and I am glad that he kept it realistic. Every parent should watch this. Even if you aren't a parent, you probably should. It will make you think twice about what to do if you see a sad child, who doesn't seem like he/she belongs with that adult, looking at you with helpless eyes.