Child of God (2013, dir. James Franco) ***/****

James Franco's "Child of Good" is an adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel of the same title.  It is an often disturbing, chilling adaptation with a fine performance from the lead, Scott Haze as Lester Ballard.

   Lester is the "Child of God" of the title and you won't come across a more vile creature at TIFF this year.  He has a penchant for shooting his rifle and necrophilia.  He is constantly on the prowl in the vast, wild woods of his hometown, squatting in various abandoned cabins for shelter.  The film is divided into three separate acts all depicting Lester as he tries to survive on his own.  

   In the first act, Lester goes to a carnival where he wins in a shooting gallery, three giant stuffed animals.  This provides comic relief and a scene later on where he expresses his rage and suspicion by shooting them to pieces.  This is a scene which Scott Haze, in a Q&A after the film revealed was improvised by him and director Franco.

   In the second act, Lester comes across a running car parked at the side of the road in which are two fresh corpses - a young man and woman.  Lester, after some deliberation, has intercourse with the female body and decides to carry her back to his cabin where he will treat he like a girlfriend for a while.  He goes into town and buys a red dress for her and pretties her up to his liking.  Scenes such as this are hard to watch but they are compelling at the same time.  Lester's dreams and his new "girlfriend" literally go up in smoke when the cabin has a fire that destroys everything inside that Lester isn't able to salvage including the corpse. 

  In the third and final act, there is murder and more mayhem.  Lester must deal with the moral choices that he makes as the a group of townspeople come to forcefully inquire what he has done with a couple of dead bodies.  

  There is a welcome supporting performance from Tim Blake Nelson as a local sheriff and James Franco also appears in a small role.  There is one disturbing image after another and we are made aware early on that this will be hard to watch when we see Lester defecating in the woods.  Actor Haze revealed in the Q&A that he was really shitting in the woods on camera.  This is no ordinary film.  It is shocking and disturbing - a unique cinematic experience.