The Boy (2016)
PG-13, 97 mins.
Directed by: William Brent Bell
Written by: Stacy Menear
Available: In Theatres
Greta is the new nanny for 8-year old Brahms, who lives with his parents in rural England. Brahms isn’t like other boys. He’s actually a doll and if you don’t follow his rules you might be sorry.
The Good:
Not a lot. The acting is solid — not a very sexy answer I know. Lauren Cohen is good, that’s a little sexier I guess. To me the highlight of the film follows a shower scene in which Greta becomes trapped somewhere wearing nothing but a towel, this is before suspicion is placed on the doll, so it works because you can imagine just how vulnerable that would make a woman feel. The semi-love story is cute. I enjoyed the limited banter we got. I’m sorry, that’s about all I’ve got.
The Bad:
Forgive me, but I feel this is something I must do: dream jump scare? Check and twice. We’re 2 for 2 on 2016 theatrical horror releases now. Let me tell you something creepy, senile old people of the world: if you are willing to pay a month’s pay for watching a doll for a week, I am your man, I will follow your absurd rules, cause it’s not difficult to dress a doll, put on a record or leave a plate of food out. Greta even mentions she feels like she’s taking advantage of the couple, but then as soon as they leave, breaks multiple rules. I would have followed those rules and would never have had a mental break cause I’d have never known that the doll was possibly alive or that it might house the soul of a little dead boy. Of course, I’m not a Hollywood-hot female, so maybe I’m not qualified anyway. This film is kind of a mess if you ask me, she breaks the rules, gets scared into following the rules and then starts breaking the rules for sport. The film rarely scares or builds much tension. There’s a twist that doesn’t work because it basically means nobody had to suffer this malevolence to begin with and it creates all sorts of problems with things that happened previously.
The Horror:
This may seem like a no-brainer given it’s a creepy doll film, but it takes a long time. For a while I contemplated if things didn’t change, would I consider this horror? I just never felt Greta was in any real peril, nor was Malcolm for most of the film. It does get there and there’s some blood spilled but I still think with the exception of the few jump scares, there’s not much to be afraid of. It is horror but I wanted more for sure.
