By Julia Conforti, staff writer
Jan. 22, the horror film The Boy was released. With a budget of $10 million, it brought in a gross total of $40.6 million. One has to wonder, was it because the movie was actually enthralling? Or was it simply because Americans are desperate for a good thriller?
The latter seems more likely. Reviews for The Boy are mostly negative, with ratings on Rotten Tomatoes at 32 percent and the highest rating being a six on IMDb.
The film stars The Walking Dead actress Lauren Cohan, a battered woman who is just trying to earn some extra cash as a nanny after escaping her abuser. However, there is something off about the young boy she is assigned to care for, Brahms. The problem is that Brahms is a doll, not an actual boy. The girl, Greta, is given an exhaustive list of tasks to perform to ensure that Brahms is well taken care of. Greta brushes off the
tasks and ignores the doll, happily taking pay for looking after a doll. However, bizarre things begin to happen and Greta is faced with the question – is Brahms alive?
The acting in the movie from all cast members is outstanding, though the characters are unrealistic and difficult to associate with. Even the battered main character is a two dimensional character and lacks the depth required to get people to sympathize with her. In fact, the only thing the audience will feel for Greta is desire as she walks around in her underwear and a towel for a majority of the film.
The relationship between Greta and the delivery boy, Malcom, (played by Rupert Evans) is unrelatable and does not have any chemistry, making it hard to care if the two end up together. Brahms’ is written to seem mysterious and have an ambiguous past, though it is fairly obvious throughout the
entire film what kind of a child he is. The characters are simply not realistic or mysterious at all.
There is a major plot twist in the movie, and it does catch moviegoers by surprise. Usually, this is a good thing and writers strive for that element of surprise. However, viewers of The Boy are surprised not because it is well hidden or crafty, but because the twist is so awful. Nobody expects the writers to come up with such an awful move, alas there it is. One of the worst plot twists in horror history.
Additionally, The Boy is simply not scary. There are suspenseful moments and jumpscares that had people leaping, but if The Boy was to pop in one’s head before they went to sleep it would not cause any minutes of lost sleep.
The movie was disappointing, and its redeeming factors are the acting, soundtrack, and cinematography. It earns a one out of five stars.