The Boy (2016)

The Boy is a decent take on the living doll premise

Directed by: William Brent Bell

Written by: Stacey Menear

Stars: Lauren Cohen, Rupert Evans, James Russell

When the film opens, our protagonist Greta Evans (Lauren Cohen) agrees to take a job as a nanny at a English mansion, in order to escape from a abusive ex-boyfriend. She goes inside the mansion; no one is in the parlor and no comes to greet her, but she hears a rustling upstairs so she decides to check it out. She hesitantly goes up the staircase a bit and calls out again. Along the stairs is a huge painted family portrait of the Heelshires. It's clear they are a very regal family. Hearing nothing, she moves on to a room filled with old-fashioned toys. She picks one up and laughs a bit before being completely startled by a noise behind her. It's Malcolm (Rupert Evans), standing at the doorway. He's the grocery boy that comes weekly to bring produce for the Heelshires. They introduce each other, and he asks to have her help in packing the groceries away. They chat, and he's obviously already smitten by Greta, but she remains polite. We find out that Greta is an American, who has moved to the UK for the first time to work for the Heelshires.

She then meets Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire (Jim Norton & Diana Hardcastle), along with their son, Brahms. She is surprised to find out that the family's boy that she is taking care of isn't a human, but a life-sized doll named Brahms. We find out that the doll Brahms was created because the parents lost their son Brahms 20 years ago, as a way to cope with their loss. The parents of Brahms give Greta a bunch of strict rules that she must follow, like reading out loud a book to Brahms so he can hear, and playing loud opera music. And one very important rule: Never leave Brahms alone, which Greta fails to do, which leads to strange and inexpiable events that lead Greta to believe that the doll is alive.

With "The Boy", we have yet another film that uses the "living doll" plot that is surprisingly successful in movies nowadays. With hits like the Child's Play franchise, or even the Annabelle trilogy (yes they have 3 of those movies), Hollywood has proved that doll movies can actually be creepy. The movie The Boy tries to be no exception, and for aspects of the film, it can be. The doll Brahms is really creepy, the atmosphere is real tense and chilling. The film has a nice psychological tone, and the haunting piano score by Bear McCreary adds the creepy factor. With a budget of only $10 million and set constraints (the film only takes place in one location), The Boy proves to be effective in its creepiness.

Being one of the few actors in the film, Lauren Cohen does a good job as Greta. However, for most of the film, She doesn't do a lot. Greta spends a lot of the time on camera walking around and hearing bumps-in-the-night. It felt quite boring for at least an hour of the film. The film does have a very interesting twist ending that I wasn't expecting. So in that regard, The Boy is worth at least 1 viewing. It does set up a sequel, so I'd like to see the next film.