Gardens of the Night

R

2007

1 hr. 50 min.

Drama

List

57%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Teens who were kidnapped at a young age and released years later learn to cope with the past.

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rita m

I guess it was ok It a shame her real parents did not tend to her at the end of the movie 😞 made her feel really uncomfortable and unwelcomed. That saddens me she needed all their love and they were not there.. I would have never let her go... Never ever 😭

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/30/23

Full Review

dave j

Young little girl gets kidnapped with much of the movie focusing on the perpetraorors before the effect it had on her as she is growing up and the African American kid who was abducted along with her. It's either based on an actual person's experience the movie does not say despite garnering many attributes from actuial organistations that deal with underage children live on the street. John Malkovich also stats as the one the counsellors.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the worst and saddest movies I've ever seen. I don't typically get emotionally involved in movies but this one really got to me. I was so sad and angry at times. I wanted to kill Tom Arnold (not him but the character) and save that little girl. Be prepared this movie is very disturbing. I had to pause Bec my heart couldn't take it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/29/18

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the most disturbing films I've ever seen. BEWARE SPOILERS! You will not be redeemed. You will not find catharsis. You may very well feel deeply depressed at the depravity of some human beings. We can begin with Alex (Tom Arnold) who "loves" little Leslie (Ryan Simpkins) so deeply and tenderly that he deprives her of her childhood to satisfy his lust. And then there's his bud Frank (Kevin Zegers) who helps Alex drug the children. Some years pass. Leslie (Gillian Jacobs) is now 17. She is living in San Diego sleeping under a life guard station or under the freeway with Donnie (as a child played by Jermaine 'Scooter' Smith and then by Evan Ross) the other child abducted by Alex and Frank. The viewer can guess that Leslie and Donnie were just dumped somewhere when Alex and Frank got tired of them. (And we can guess that Alex and Frank found other children to enslave and molest.) Leslie smokes, does drugs, prostitutes herself, and hangs out with lowlifes on the streets. One lowlife (I forget his name) wants Leslie to entice a 12-year-old girl into prostitution. She is told that he will give her to only the "best people" including a judge. Apparently he has a ring of enslaved girls that he shops around to the best people. At this point the viewer is understandably waiting for Leslie and Donnie to find themselves, to break free of the hopeless life on the street. Enter Michael at the homeless shelter (John Malkovich in what is little more than a cameo). He discovers an old flyer with little Leslie's photo and the plea from her loving and distraught parents for the return of their missing daughter. Prior to seeing this Leslie believed from years of being brainwashed by Alex that her parents didn't love her and were glad to be rid of her. Michael says, "It's time for you to go home, Leslie." And so Leslie does. And what happens is in some ways the most disturbing part of the movie. The cast is outstanding. I was particularly impressed with Ryan Simpkins, Gilliam Jacobs and Evan Ross. Damian Harris, who wrote and directed, gives us a view of humanity that is unrelentingly debased. There is no doubt about his skill and dark vision. I just hope that next time out he does something positive. --Dennis Littrell, author of the movie review book, "Cut to the Chaise Lounge, or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote"

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I'm sooo mad about the ending! It wasn't enough closure for me

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sensitive but uncaring, Gardens of the Night shows no effort to push itself to be what it truly wants to be, but the final act is enough to leave you satisfied.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Damian Harris

Director

Gillian Jacobs

Leslie

John Malkovich

Michael

Ryan Simpkins

Young Leslie

Tom Arnold

Alex

Kevin Zegers

Frank

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48%

44%

Jolene

88%

87%

Boy A

45%

41%

Take

17%

31%

What Goes Up

21%

45%

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Stephen Garrett

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Mark Olsen

Los Angeles Times

Do these heartbreaking stories exist in the real world? Yes, yes, they do. Does dramatizing these stories with nothing to add except a certain cruel wallowing in the existence of unspeakable human depravity serve any real purpose? No, no, it does not.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 5, 2008

Full Review

Nick Schager

Cinematical

The tendency to exploit lurid material for dramatic purposes is something [director Harris] can't avoid.

Nov 7, 2008

Full Review

David Harris

Spectrum Culture

A potent movie about an important topic.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 2, 2019

Full Review

Brian Orndorf

DVDTalk.com

Gardens doesn't always hit its desired mark of profundity. It's a wobbly plunge into grotesque acts of inhuman violation, with the patchy acting often blocking the true horror on display.

Rated: C

Apr 30, 2009

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

"Gardens of the Night" is a powerful and provoking film about a disturbing and all too real subject. There's a bitterness here that will not go away.

Rated: B+

Nov 10, 2008

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Synopsis

Teens who were kidnapped at a young age and released years later learn to cope with the past.

Director: Damian Harris
Executive Producer: Mark Amin, Todd Olsson
Screenwriter: Damian Harris
Production Co: Fastback Pictures
Rating: R (Sexual Exploitation of a Child|Disturbing Content|Sexual Content|Language|Some Drug Use)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 10, 2016

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