Movie Review – “The Boy” (2016)

“The Boy” comes close to being another generic horror film until its unexpected twist.

Source: Wikipedia

More and more horror films have been gracing our cinema screens in the last number of weeks. With “10 Cloverfield Lane” and “The Witch” occupying the box office at the same time, “The Boy” had some serious competition and expectations to live up to.

Starring “The Walking Dead” leading lady Lauren Cohan, “The Boy” had the potential to stand out from most horror films with good acting as well as genuine scares, however the movie falls slightly flat in originality.

The plot surrounds American woman Greta, who narrowly escapes an abusive relationship and flees to England where she is offered a job as a nanny to 8 year old Brahms while his parents jet off on an extensive holiday. The offer sounds like a chance for Greta to avoid her problems and earn some easy money, however when she comes to discover that her new employers “son” is, in fact, a life-sized china doll who she is expected to feed , read to, carry around all day and kiss goodnight every evening, things begin to get creepy.

The acting in the film is one thing that is hard to fault. Performances from Cohan and co-star Rupert Evans are believable and distract from the fact that “The Boy” is, potentially, another mediocre horror movie.

Although the movie seems to be predictable, the end of the film is not as expected. The movie moves from being a stereotypical psychological thriller to a more cynical and literal situation. 

The film has enough scares to satisfy an every-day horror fan, and Lauren Cohan does well with what director William Brent Bell (also director of 2012 “The Devil Inside”) gives her. However, I feel the film would have more depth if the first hour wasn’t as slow moving and we explored further the possibility of Greta losing her mind instead of being haunted.

These days it’s very difficult to find a horror film with no faults, it has become a controversial genre that is either loved or hated by the public.

“The Boy” is better than expected, with an actual story line and emotional connections to the characters rather than just unnecessary jump scares, however it could be better.

By Cara Croke.