Monday, February 22, 2016

Movie Review: The Boy

I know, suspend your disbelief that I’ve yet again managed to go see a horror movie.  In fairness, this one, The Boy, played out much better than a lot of other movies I’ve seen lately.  There is little new in the horror genre, yet I did feel honestly surprised at the varying twists and turns this movie took.

The story behind The Boy centers around an elderly couple who hires a nanny for their son.  Their son is a porcelain doll.  At first the nanny, played by Lauren Cohen (of Walking Dead and a short stint on Supernatural), doesn’t take this seriously at all.  The quaint, old British house starts to get to her and she’s quickly convinced that the doll is actually haunted by the son’s spirit.  The movie takes on a strange calm as she accepts this and does all that has been asked of her.  It isn’t long into the story where things are turned upside down.

Without giving away the major plot twist, and it was quite surprising, the story has a slow burn to it.  The mystery around the passing of the son and the parents’ equally odd behavior makes for a creepy movie that can claw into your psyche.  The cousin I went with debated with me as to whether or not the parents were complicit in all the goings on.  I wanted to believe they didn’t know, but on closer inspection, it would have been impossible without their knowledge.

This may not be a movie worth $13, but it was a low-budget style movie that kept me engaged throughout.  After seeing it, I almost feel bad it did do better, as it could have been one of those movies that everyone talks about.  Somehow the movie just didn’t hit at exactly the right time.  It is well worth seeing.

1 comment:

  1. I thought this film started out pretty intriguing but then its midsection lost me.

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