"Beautifully directed and acted, GARDENS OF THE NIGHT is both honest and heartbreaking---one of the best films about lost childhood I've ever seen." Scott Macaulay, Filmmaker Magazine
"Compelling drama about abducted children avoids the heartstrings and goes right for the gut." Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
"stunning...Tom Arnold delivers a career-best performance as you've never seen him before as a child trafficker, and incredible turns from the young leads..." Rotton Tomatoes
"[This film] will break your heart." Mastidon, Ain't It Cool News
"Harris’s offering is distinguished by its unsensational tone and the constant nagging feeling that the events shown could happen anywhere. The photography by Pauld Huidobro, like everything else, is understated yet makes a powerful impact." Richard Mowe, BoxOffice.com
Kevin Zegers as FRANK
"Radical, daring, beautiful..." FilmStarts.de
Tom Arnold as ALEX
Jeremy Sisto as JIMMY
"Not only is this one of the mostheartbreaking films I've ever seen, it has brilliant performances by each and every cast member and directed with realism and emotional power by Damian Harris." Danny Fisher, CEO, City Lights Pictures
"A profoundly disturbing, super-realistic examination of pedophilia not to be screened on an empty stomach, nor forgotten during awards season.." Kam Williams, News Blaze
Gillian Jacobs as LESLIE
"grueling...a toiling labour of love. Its angry power is documented almost entirely from the perspective of a child. The villains and victims look normal; the scenarios are so twisted that they couldn't possibly have been invented." James Christopher, Times UK
John Malkovich as MICHAEL
"...utterly incredible...Tom Arnold gives one of the year's best and most nuanced performances...You'll be shocked...Damian Harris is definitely one to watch, and so is this film." Latauro, Ain't It Cool News
A friend sent me this amusing pic. The little girl is Ryan Simpkins, who plays one of the main characters as a younger child.
"...not an easy film to watch...Damian Harris conducts a very sharp passage through the world of child abduction, child molestation and the subsequent results for the children involved...incredibly sharp and honest at all times." Evrim Ersoyon, Monsters & Critics
Ryan Simpkins as LESLIE, and JERMAINE SCOOTER SMITH as DONNIE
"A harrowing account of child abduction and survival...A difficult and important film." Paul Griffiths, Eye For Film
"engrossing...heartbreaking...beautifully directed and acted...and it shows such an understanding of its subject matter that it's impossible to dismiss." Scott Macaulay, Film Maker Magazine
Director Damian Harris and the cast, at the 2008 Berlinale Film Festival
POSTERS
Original Poster USA 2007
New Poster, 2008
Back to GARDENS OF THE NIGHT
Back to SISTO ACT
Midi: "The Garden"
