the boy movie review

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In the pantheon of creepy dolls – from Talky Tina in “The Twilight Zone” to Chucky in the “Child’s Play” movies to Annabelle in “ The Conjuring ” – it’s often the idea of the inanimate object coming to life and wreaking bloody havoc that’s more frightening than the actual execution. It’s a tricky thing to pull off: drawing shivers from turning a childhood plaything into something truly menacing vs. eliciting giggles at the sheer silliness of the proposition.

Such is the unfortunate – and unintentionally hilarious – case of “The Boy,” whose moody atmosphere and committed performances can’t conceal the fact that this is one dumb flick. (It’s also a flick that wasn’t shown to critics before opening day; the studio actually pulled its scheduled  Thursday -night sneaks of the film, in case you were wondering whether to be optimistic.)

Lauren Cohan of “The Walking Dead” does her best, though, to take her role seriously through all its implausible twists and turns. She stars as Greta, a pretty, young American who travels to a remote English village to take a job as a nanny for an 8-year-old boy. Seems she’s got a troubled romantic past and needs to get as far away from home as possible; what she finds, though, is that she’s far away from everything else, too. When she pulls up in a chauffeured car to the Heelshires’ stately, intimidating manor, she remarks in awe: “It’s like something out of a storybook, isn’t it?” Actually, it’s like something out of every Gothic horror movie you’ve ever seen, complete with wild, misty grounds, dark stairways, hidden passages and things that go bump in the night. 

When Greta meets the rigid, conservatively dressed Heelshires (veterans Jim Norton and Diana Hardcastle ), who look more like the grandparents of an 8-year-old boy than the parents, she receives a strict list of rules and a routine to which she must adhere. She also meets the boy himself – who isn’t a boy at all but rather a china doll with a prim wardrobe of tiny suits and cardigans and a glassy stare. But the Heelshires, who’ve named him Brahms, treat him like a living, breathing child. They talk to him. They feed him. They carry him up and down stairs, play classical records for him and tuck him into bed at night.

“Oh, Brahms! You must sit up straight,” his mother gently scolds at one point. Later she coos, “Mommy’s so proud of you.” Ostensibly, the matter-of-fact way in which these genteel, wealthy people regard what is clearly a toy is meant to be unnerving. Are they deranged or diabolical? And Greta, as our stand-in, expresses all the skepticism and apprehension that we would in this bizarre situation. But she needs the money, so she takes the job. (Although how she found out about the gig from her small town in Montana is a mystery; the Heelshires have no Internet or cell service and seem to have stopped communicating with the outside world decades ago.)

The couple’s other employee is Malcolm ( Rupert Evans ), the funny, flirty grocery clerk who runs errands for them in town and comes by once a week. (His presence, like Greta’s, is a bit of a mystery. Who is he? Why do they trust him? Does he have any life outside his weekly visits? Questions abound in the script from Stacey Menear , and we’re just scratching the surface to avoid spoilers.) But Malcolm is decent enough to fill Greta in on what’s happening here: The real Brahms died in a fire 20 years ago on his 8th birthday, and the Heelshires have been using the doll as a stand-in ever since.

It all seems harmless enough despite its oddness – until the Heelshires go out of town for a long-overdue holiday and leave Greta alone with Brahms. Suddenly, she finds her belongings disappearing and reappearing and hears a child’s laughter and sobs echoing through the hallways. The doll itself doesn’t move – at first – but strange things are clearly afoot.

Director William Brent Bell stages a couple of genuinely tense moments – one of which takes place on a tried-and-true, dark-and-stormy night – but for the most part can’t decide whether to play it straight or have a little fun with this outlandish premise along the lines of Guillermo Del Toro ’s ravishing “ Crimson Peak .” He relies too heavily on jump scares, nightmare sequences and the general foreboding of the house itself to do the work. And so we’re in a bit of a mushy gray area in the middle where the characters’ decisions, reactions and dialogue make us laugh, but perhaps not knowingly. It’s awkward and strange but never shamelessly over-the-top enough to serve as a guilty pleasure.

The twist that explains what’s really going on here feels like a bit of a letdown, as does the climactic confrontation involving the truly evil force that’s been toying with and tormenting Greta. It’s more rote than revelatory, and the possibility of a sequel in the final shot plays more like a threat than a promise.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

The Boy (2016)

Rated PG-13 for violence and terror, and for some thematic material.

Lauren Cohan as Greta

Rupert Evans as Malcolm

James Russell as Brahms Heelshire

Jim Norton as Mr. Heelshire

Diana Hardcastle as Mrs. Heelshire

Ben Robson as Cole

Jett Klyne as Brahms (child)

• William Brent Bell
• Stacey Menear

Cinematographer

• Daniel Pearl
• Bear McCreary
• Brian Berdan

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Review: ‘The Boy,’ in Which a Doll May be Alive, or the Heroine May Be Mad

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By Neil Genzlinger

• Jan. 22, 2016

A creepy doll and a creepy house are the main ingredients of “The Boy,” a small-cast horror movie that spends a lot of time building itself into a psychological thriller, only to veer in a more literal direction at the end. It still has enough scary moments to satisfy horror fans, but you’re left wondering whether it might have been more disturbing had it stayed on its original path.

Lauren Cohan, of “The Walking Dead,” plays Greta, a young American woman who escapes a bad relationship by traveling to England for a job as a nanny to the son of an older couple (Jim Norton and Diana Hardcastle). Only when she arrives at their creaky, sprawling mansion does she learn that the lad, Brahms, is actually a porcelain doll, a surrogate for their son, who is said to have died years earlier in a fire.

“Whatever it might look like on the outside,” the father tells her, “our son is here. He is very much with us.”

The parents quickly bolt — they desperately need a vacation, they tell Greta — leaving her with Brahms and a detailed list of how to care for him. Alone in the giant house, except for an occasional visit from Malcolm (Rupert Evans), who delivers groceries, Greta undergoes a transition from thinking that the couple are bonkers to suspecting that the doll is indeed somehow alive.

It’s a classic descent-into-madness setup, and Ms. Cohan does a reasonable job with what she’s given. ( William Brent Bell directed the script, by Stacey Menear.) There was room to give her more — the first hour of the film is a bit sluggish — and Ms. Cohan never really gets to finish her exploration of whether Greta has lost her mind because the film takes an abrupt turn. It’s one of those twist endings that, though surprising, also feels like a letdown.

“The Boy” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned) for relatively mild gore and violence.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Unoriginal but well-made "creepy doll" horror movie.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Advocates not being victimized or controlled by ot

A woman learns, mainly through unfortunate circums

Character is stabbed in the neck and killed. Chara

A man and a woman kiss passionately; they're clear

At least two uses of "s--t," plus "son of a bitch,

A character drinks several glasses of wine by hers

Parents need to know that The Boy is a "creepy doll" horror film. It's not entirely original, but it is well-made, and it could catch on with teen horror-hounds. While not overly gory, characters do die (both by stabbing and via suicide), words are written in blood on a wall, and there are scary sounds and…

Positive Messages

Advocates not being victimized or controlled by others.

Positive Role Models

A woman learns, mainly through unfortunate circumstances, to stand up for herself.

Violence & Scariness

Character is stabbed in the neck and killed. Characters commit suicide by drowning. Fighting, shouting, slamming characters against walls and floors. Dead rats, with dripping blood. Writing in blood on wall. Two or three jump-scares. A violent, obsessive ex-boyfriend threatens and manhandles a woman. Animal heads. Scary noises.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A man and a woman kiss passionately; they're clearly moving toward sex but are interrupted. She's shown in her underwear, taking a shower (no nudity), and wearing a towel. Flirting. A driver stares at a woman's cleavage in the rear-view mirror.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

At least two uses of "s--t," plus "son of a bitch, "hell," and "Jesus" (as an exclamation).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A character drinks several glasses of wine by herself. Glass of beer shown at dinner.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Boy is a "creepy doll" horror film. It's not entirely original, but it is well-made, and it could catch on with teen horror-hounds. While not overly gory, characters do die (both by stabbing and via suicide), words are written in blood on a wall, and there are scary sounds and jump-scares, characters fighting and being slammed around, and dead rats. A man and a woman kiss, moving toward sex, but they're interrupted; there's also some flirting and shots of a woman taking a shower (no graphic nudity) and wearing a towel and underwear. Language is infrequent but includes uses of "s--t," "bitch," and "hell." A character drinks wine in one sequence. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (20)
• Kids say (81)

Based on 20 parent reviews

What's the Story?

American nanny Greta ( Lauren Cohan ) takes a job in a remote mansion in the English countryside, where she's told she'll be looking after a boy named Brahms. But when she arrives, Greta's shocked to see that Brahms is actually a doll -- and that his "parents" ( Diana Hardcastle and Jim Norton ) want her to follow a daily routine with it while they're on holiday. At first, Greta ignores the doll, but then strange things start happening: Her clothes disappear, and she finds herself locked in the attic at night. A handsome grocery delivery man, Malcolm ( Rupert Evans ), tells her everything he knows about the family and helps out, but nothing can prepare Greta for what's really going on inside the house.

Is It Any Good?

While it's not a terribly original entry in the "creepy doll" horror subgenre, this fright flick nonetheless offers interesting characters, a strong cast, expert pacing, and a spooky atmosphere. Resorting to annoying jump-scares only a couple of times, director William Brent Bell (of the decidedly inferior The Devil Inside ) takes his time exploring the scary old house, using animal heads, off-kilter angles, and sound to give THE BOY a sense of dread. Bell even goes back to that old standby, the shower scene, to add vulnerability to his character.

The scary things that actually happen are nothing new, but that they happen to the appealing Greta helps a great deal. She seems like a real person with good sense and an actual past, and she relates to Malcolm in a genuine way. Likewise, veteran English thespians Hardcastle and Norton bring dignity and style to their roles, which could easily have been jokey throwaways.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about The Boy 's violence . Which threat was scarier, the one from real life or the one from the doll? How much violence was actually shown? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

Is the movie scary? How does it compare to other horror movies you've seen? What's the appeal of the horror genre? What about "scary doll" movies?

What would you have done in Greta's place? Take care of the doll? Ignore it and have a good time? Run?

Greta has been victimized by various men; does she stand up for herself? How?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 22, 2016
• On DVD or streaming : May 10, 2016
• Cast : Lauren Cohan , Rupert Evans , Diana Hardcastle
• Director : William Brent Bell
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : STX Entertainment
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 97 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : violence and terror, and for some thematic material
• Last updated : November 3, 2023

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Movie Review: The Boy (2016)

• Movie Reviews
• 2 responses
• --> January 28, 2016

There are very few horror movie theater going trips that stick with me as incredible experiences. “ Paranormal Activity ” floored me with its outstanding ability to silence a packed theater, bringing to reality the idiom, “You could cut the tension with a knife.” The surprise ending of “Saw” thrilled me so much, I went to see it a second time in the theater — that very same night. Nothing tops being able to see “The Exorcist” on the big screen in re-release, and enduring my friend’s fingernails digging into my arm the entire time. And while I can now add my experience of seeing The Boy in the theater to this exclusive list, I cannot say it’s for the same reasons. The Boy is not a quality horror movie, but as someone who has seen a lot (A LOT) of bad horror movies, I can still say that it’s been a long time since I’ve had this much enjoyment watching a bad movie (that doesn’t have three silhouettes at the bottom of the screen).

Lauren Cohan of “The Walking Dead” fame, plays Greta Evans, a young American woman who arrives at a beautiful, haunting, Hill House-type home in England to serve as the new nanny for the Heelshire family. She is greeted by Mrs. Heelshire (Diana Hardcastle, “ The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ”) who carries herself with prototypical English stature and Mr. Heelshire, (Jim Norton, “ Jimmy’s Hall ”) who seems like a kindly gentleman who lovingly caters to his wife’s demands. The older couple bring her into a library where she meets their son, Brahms. As you’ve already been told by the film’s trailers, Brahms is a porcelain doll that the Heelshires carry around the house, feed, and read to. Brahms loves poetry and listening to his music very loudly, Greta is told. She’s also given instructions about the house which require her to never throw away food and to regularly check the traps outside for rats and vermin. As her employers leave for their first vacation in years, they provide Greta with a list of rules for caring for Brahms, and Mrs. Heelshire tells her that if she’s good to Brahms, he will be good to her in return.

As she gets accustomed to her new role as nanny, Greta is kept company by Malcolm (Rupert Evans, “The Canal”), the man who delivers groceries once a week. Greta is, at first, completely unnerved by the doll, and keeps Brahms on a chair in his room, but after a series of unsettling events, she begins to follow Brahms’ rules — she dresses him, reads to him, and kisses him goodnight before he goes to sleep. She grows attached to Brahms, and takes her role as nanny very seriously; after all, as Mrs. Heelshire told her, he had gone through many nannies previously, and now he has chosen Greta to care for him. But, of course, there’s more to the story than that.

Without getting into spoilers, allow me to say that The Boy is one of the strangest horror films I’ve seen in a long time. The first half is your standard creepy doll movie — things disappear or move on their own when Greta isn’t looking, and Brahms’ empty glass eyes certainly serve their creepy little purpose. I don’t have an issue with scary dolls, so this didn’t have the effect on me that I expect it does on people who nurture that particular phobia, but I do get wrapped up in tales of the supernatural, so when bizarre things begin occurring, I was paying attention.

Director William Brent Bell and writer Stacey Menear have put together a movie that relies heavily on old standards like nightmares, dark and shadowy rooms (not to mention the attic), and backstories that include “odd” or “downright strange” children. They focus quite a bit on how playful Brahms is, and underscore the tension with descriptions of what the real Brahms was like. One of the more notable elements of the film is how quickly Greta changes in attitude towards Brahms; she turns on a dime from goofing on her role (feeling she’s taken advantage of the old couple) to lovingly carrying the doll around the house. Stranger still is how we, the audience, grow to share her allegiance to Brahms — no, really — and you’ll know exactly what scene I mean when you see it. The scenes that follow only grow stranger.

I’ve seen numerous movies to which I can compare The Boy , none of which I’ll name because there’s still enjoyment to be had from the reveal. Those unnamed movies, however, do, in part, what The Boy does and are much better at doing it. Nonetheless, my experience of seeing it with a crowd parallels some of my most fond memories of seeing well-made films in the theater. A woman approached me as the credits rolled and asked if I’d ever seen anything so creepy. I had to admit I definitely had — and did not consider The Boy to be creepy at all, though I’m glad it worked for her — but I did confess that I enjoyed one of the hardiest laughs I’ve had in a while.

I can’t say with a straight face that The Boy is a good horror movie, but I can definitely say I had a good time. Personally, I think that alone makes it worth a look.

Tagged: babysitter , child , doll , family , rules

School teacher by day. Horror aficionado by night.

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'Movie Review: The Boy (2016)' have 2 comments

January 28, 2016 @ 3:29 pm sasha

So The Boy is one of those so bad it’s good movies? I had it crossed off my list–I may now have to uncross it!

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March 30, 2016 @ 12:08 am hornbleu

I caught this as a ‘rental’ and all I can say is it has one of the weirdest twists I’ve ever seem.

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• An American nanny is shocked that her new English family's boy is actually a life-sized doll. After she violates a list of strict rules, disturbing events make her believe that the doll is really alive.
• Greta, a young American woman, takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village and discovers that the family's 8-year-old is a life-sized doll that the parents care for just like a real boy as a way to cope with the death of their actual son 20 years ago. When she violates a list of strict rules, her worst nightmare is brought to life by a series of disturbing, inexplicable events and she comes to believe that the doll is alive. — STX Entertainment
• Greta Evans, a young American from Montana, is hired as a nanny by the Heelshires. When she arrives in their small town in the United Kingdom, the elderly couple show Greta her charge: a porcelain doll named Brahms that they treat like their son. They then close the doors behind them so that they can ask Brahms if he wants Greta as his babysitter. The old couple come out and say that Brahms agreed despite having "rejected" many previous babysitters. Over the next day, the couple coach Greta on taking care of Brahms and their house, leave her a list of rules to follow, then leave for a holiday. The rules include speaking louder than usual when reading a book to Brahms, leaving food out on the table and not throwing it away, and setting up rat traps. Initially, Greta ignores the rules about the doll and follows her own routine. She regularly calls her sister Sandy, who tells her that her abusive ex-boyfriend Cole has been trying to find out where she is..
• Eager to break free from her dark past, young Greta Evans flies across the pond after landing a job as a nanny at the Heelshires' isolated mansion somewhere in the English countryside. Once there she realizes that pain and grief can lead to strange paths, as her silver-haired employers need her to look after Brahms, the eerily lifelike porcelain doll they treat as their son. At first glance, this is a simple task, but she still must follow a very specific set of inflexible rules. Before long, as Greta pays no attention to the strict guidelines, bizarre things begin to happen, and an intangible but ominous presence haunts the manor's dark corridors. Is Greta starting to lose her grip on reality? What is the well-hidden secret of the cryptic Heelshire family? — Nick Riganas
• Elderly couple Heelshire prepares for a long-awaited holiday by welcome handsomely paid nanny Greta Evans, a broke US airhead fleeing her abusive ex Cole, for their pre-teen son Brahms. She promises to follow instructions despite finding it's a porcelain doll, and ignores it lazily once the owners leave her alone in the spooky, stately lonesome home. Her only regular visitor is local grocer Malcolm, who delivers supplies and seeks company like she. Strange, sometimes scary things keep happening, which she finally believes the work of the doll, which she henceforth obsessively minds, even neglecting patient, ever-helpful Malcolm, whom she shows the oddities and learns from about the late real Brahms's alleged dark side. His discrete vigilance proves vital at the surprise arrival of Cole, who plans to drag her back to the States, but an even greater surprise awaits them all. — KGF Vissers
• In the opening scene, we see Greta Evans (Lauren Cohan) riding in a traditional British taxi. The driveway leading to the house is secluded, with forest all around. The taxi driver knocks on the window, and she wakes with a start as she has fallen asleep during the drive. Greta gets out of the limousine and looks at the manor in awe. The limousine driver tells Greta he has already taken her things inside for her since she was asleep. He asks her to go inside and wait in the parlor before he gets in the taxi and drives off. Greta goes into the house and is about to go in before she figures she should take off her shoes. She sets them by the door and calls out. 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. Hes 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. He tells her his grandma reads tea leaves, and his mother reads palms. When she asks what he reads, he replies "with gum." Playing along, she gives him the gum she's been chewing on. He makes a bad reading that doesn't impress her very much. He tries again with a second, saying that she is running from a bad past. This evidently hits close to home, as Greta instantly shutters. He tries to play it off, but Greta pushes past it and asks Malcolm what the Heelshires are like, as no one have made an appearance yet. He says they are nice enough and very generous. He starts to say something about Brahms, but he is stopped by the arriving of Mrs. Heelshire (Diana Hardcastle). She doesn't look kindly upon Greta and instantly notices her sock-clad feet. Greta says she left her shoes by the front and not wanting to displease Mrs. Heelshire, runs to get them. However, her shoes are gone. Mrs. Heelshire waves it off, saying Brahms likes to play. She asks Greta to put other shoes on, and they will meet the rest of the family. On the way, Mrs. Heelshire says she hopes that Greta works out because they have tried with other nannies in the past. She notes that Greta is much younger and prettier than the others, so hopefully Brahms will take a liking to her. Before arriving at the parlor, they can hear Mr. Heelshire talking softly to Brahms, telling him to behave. When Mr. Heelshire stands up, Greta sees that Brahms is just a life-like porcelain doll. They introduce her to Brahms, and she just stares disbelievingly at the doll before laughing, thinking its a joke. However, her amusement dies off upon the very serious looks of Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire. Malcolm, however, steps in and tells the Heelshires that their food is packed, and he will be back next week. He steps past Greta, and takes Brahmss doll hand and shakes it, telling him that he will see Brahms next week. Upon the interaction, Mrs. Heelshire smiles dotingly. Malcolm leaves, but not before shooting Greta a look that says just play along. Greta takes the dolls arm and says with a forced smile that she hopes they can be friends. Mrs. Heelshire shows Greta around the kitchen, saying that they never dispose of leftovers. They have a special area that they put in, some sort of portable fridge container off to the side. Mr. Heelshire takes her outside and tells her about the traps around they have to trap vermin. He doesn't think its necessary but tells her Mrs. Heelshire is worried about rats in the walls. He also mentions all the windows are painted shut, as in accidentally (but it doesn't sound like it). At the end of the walk, Mr. Heelshire has a very serious moment with Greta and tells her things are not always what they appear to the outside (or something like that). Its supposed to reassure her. In the study, Mrs. Heelshire says that music very important to Brahms. During all this, she holds and coddles the doll, which is off-putting to Greta. Mrs. Heelshire puts the needle on the record, and extremely loud operatic music plays. In the bedroom, Mrs. Heelshire tells her that Greta is to wake Brahms up at 7 am every day and to change him. She wants Greta to do it, but her movements are clumsy on account that its a doll. The family puts Brahms to bed. While Greta watches from the doorway, the Heelshires pray. Mrs. Heelshire turns to Greta and asks for privacy. Mr. Heelshire shuts the door on her. She can hear hushed talking from the two for a minute before the door abruptly opens. Mrs. Heelshire tells her with a tremulous smile, Brahms has chosen you. In her room, Greta talks to Sandy (a close friend or sister) from home. She explains the extremely creepy situation to her. Sandy agrees that it is weird but tells her to stick with it because Greta needs this second chance. This segues into Sandy saying that Cole stopped by her house again, demanding where Greta is. Greta panics a little but Sandy told her she didn't tell him anything. Obviously, someone from Greta's bad past. The next day, the Mr. Heelshire explains he and his wife are going away on a mini-vacation that they have wanted to go on for awhile, but couldn't since there wasn't a caregiver for Brahms. They tell Greta "it is very important that you follow these rules". They give Greta a printed schedule of activities to do throughout the day with Brahms, as well as the list of the rules. Some of them are: No guests (no boyfriends). Don't cover his face. Save meals in freezer. Dress him each morning. Never go in the attic. Help with studies. Never cover his face. Read a bedtime story. Play music loud. Never leave him alone. Clean the traps. Don't forget to feed him. Kiss goodnight. Before they go, Mrs. Heelshire hugs Greta and tears up, strangely whispering to her, "I'm sorry." As soon as they leave, Greta puts Brahms on a chair and apologizes before tossing a blanket over him. There is not much to do in the house, so Greta makes herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and pours some wine. She throws the food waste in the trash. She settles in the parlor to read some magazines. It starts pouring rain outside. She walks past the covered doll a few times when she refills her drink. She heads upstairs to go to bed and glances down the hall where the doll is, but this time, the blanket is off the doll. She's a bit unnerved and, annoyed at her reaction, roughly puts the doll in the bedroom and locks it. Greta goes to bed but wakes upon hearing what sounds like a child wailing. She takes a candle and goes downstairs to check it out. On the way, she stops to look at the portrait and focuses on Brahms's painted human face. She leans in close when an arm shoots out and reels her in. Greta wakes up in a sweat. It was just a nightmare. She hears the muted wailing noise again. She peers in the Brahms bedroom, and the doll is how she left it. She leans in close and sees the dolls cheek is wet, like tear tracks. Greta is officially freaked but notices water dripping on it from a ceiling leak. She laughs it off. She notices an attic in the ceiling when she goes out in the hallway and tries to open it with a large fire poker thing leaning against the wall but is unable to get the latch to come down. There's a knock on the door, and she leaves it be. It's Malcolm, apologizing and also bringing Greta's first week of pay in an envelope. She tells him she wishes he had warned her about the doll, but he tells her he doesn't even know how to explain it. They take a walk outside around the manor and Malcolm brings her to the actual Brahms' grave. He lived from 1983 to 1991. Malcolm says not much is known, but Brahms passed away during a fire on his 8th birthday. Soon after, the doll showed up, and Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire have been taking care of the doll this whole time. Greta feels immediate sympathy and notes that Brahms would be Malcolm's age had he lived. She says she can't believe that Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire have been living like this for 20 years. During all this, we get the impression that someone is watching them from the house. Malcolm invites her out of the house tonight to get away from the oppressive manor. Greta is unsure, stating she just got out of a thing (Cole), but Malcolm talks her into it. She agrees and they part ways to meet up later. Later, Greta starts to get ready picking out clothing while talking to Sandy. Sandy is happy she's moving on and tells her she needs this (opportunity). Greta mentions the doll's backstory and Sandy tells her again that she needs the money, which is really generous. Sandy reminders Greta that one week's pay is more than what Sandy makes in a week. Sandy also mentions Cole again and how persistent he is being. Sandy reveals that Cole asked Sandy's 10-year-old son where Greta is so he can write and apologize, and her kid told Cole where Greta is in the UK. Sandy apologizes, but Greta assures her she will not read anything from Cole. In Brahms room, we are focused on his porcelain face, and we realize he can hear everything as there is a system set up where the sound is amplified in his room so the doll can hear EVERYTHING. Greta is starting to get excited about going out. She sets a coral dress aside in the bathroom along with her necklace before stepping into the shower. As she showers, something removes the dress and pulls the necklace away. Greta gets out, wraps a towel around herself and looks in the mirror. She notices that one end of her hair is a little messed up. Before she can freak out about it too much, she sees that her things are gone. She rushes into her bedroom to see all her drawers opened and all her clothes gone. She hears something and spins around. The attic is open, and the stairs are down. She takes the fire poker thing resting on the side and goes up, clutching her towel. As soon as she makes it past, the ladder lurches up and the attic slams shut. She is unable to open it. She hears Malcolm's car pulling up and tries to get his attention. However, she is so far up he cannot hear her. She tries to make noise by banging the iron poker against the walls, but its far too muted for him to hear. She can barely see him through the thick wooden boards (remember every window is pretty covered up or shut). She keeps trying until he leaves. Dejectedly, she looks around a little in the dark before a figure pops up at her. She is so startled she falls back and knocks herself out. In the morning, Greta wakes. She goes around and sees that the figure that startled her was just a suit that is hanging against the wall. She also sees that the ladder is down and the door open. She calls Malcolm over to comb over the house. He looks at the attic stairs, and he barely touches it before it snaps upward and closes. He figures that's how she got trapped up there. They spend some time together and play some pool. They go to the study to talk where she asks more about what Brahms was like. Malcolm isn't entirely comfortable and tells Greta that there is people talk and pub talk and that the truth is somewhere in between. The people version is that Brahms was a very nice lad. The pub version is that Brahms was very, very off. Malcolm tells Greta about how one time he came over, it was actually Brahmss birthday. Mrs. Heelshire was opening presents with the Brahms doll while Mr. Heelshire was in the study, drinking heavily. Malcolm was heading to leave when Mr. Heelshire begs company with Malcolm. Mr. Heelshire was muttering about how he cant go on like this anymore (the doll thing). Malcolm took the opportunity to ask what Brahms, the actual Brahms, was like and Mr. Heelshire just replied with, odd. Malcolm wants her to leave again, but Greta assures him she is alright. He leaves for the night, and she heads to bed. She calls Sandy again and leaves a message for her to send more magazines or anything over as there's no internet, or TV or barely anything electronic in the manor. She hangs up, and the phone rings again immediately. Thinking it's Sandy calling back, she picks up instantly but just hears breathing. She hangs up, unnerved. The next day she goes through the motions and notices the doll in bed where she has left it all that time. The list of things that she's supposed to do daily with Brahms lays nearby. The phone suddenly rings outside, and when she answers it, she hears the same breathing. This time, there's a small tinny voice, like a child, calling her name and asking her to play. She starts crying and screaming, asking who this is! She hears footsteps and runs to her room and locks it. From the bottom of the floor, we see the porcelain feet walking across. Greta watches hysterically as she hears Brahms, asking her to come out. She sees something being placed down and after a while goes outside and sees it is a tray with a PB+J sandwich. She picks its up and starts laughing/crying hysterically. She looks across the Brahms' open room, where the doll now sits on a bed, facing her. She goes to the door and stares at it, and then looks at the list, now knowing what Brahms wants. Over the next couple of days, she takes care of Brahms. She talks to him and makes food for him (throwing it as instructed in the container). She plays his music and pretty much follows the list. We cut to the Heelshires on their trip. Mrs. Heelshire is writing a note to Brahms, apologizing for them leaving him. At the bottom of the letter, it says the girl is yours now. They head to a coastline, picking up rocks and putting it in their pockets. They walk, hand-in-hand, drowning themselves. One day, Malcolm comes over earlier than usual to deliver the food to check up on her. He notices the doll sitting at the table with them. He asks her out again and Greta glances over at the doll, thinking she better not. Malcolm takes it in stride and takes Brahms' hand and asks to take Greta out, also playing Brahms' approval in reply. Greta just looks and is not comfortable. She then starts to tell him that Brahms is HERE here. Malcolm doesn't believe her, and she takes him upstairs. Apparently, Greta has been experimenting. She places the doll in a sitting position on the ground in Brahms' room. She takes some chalk and erases her previous lines. She draws a rough outline around the doll. They head back to her room, and Malcolm still thinks its crazy. She says she got the idea from when he mentioned how Brahms in real life was extremely shy. So the doll will only move behind closed doors or out of sight. They wait a few beats. Greta knocks on the wall, and they go back to Brahms' room. The doll is exactly as she left it. Malcolm tells her its okay; he believes her. Greta wants to try one more time. She hugs the doll and tells him that she needs Malcolm to see it, so she will not be alone. She also says that she would have to go if he doesn't move and that she needs Brahms to do this for her. They go back to her room, and when they head back, the doll is gone. Malcolm is shocked. Greta is ecstatic that someone else is experiencing this and that she's not crazy. She hugs him elatedly, and they almost have a moment when she spots Brahms creepily staring at them from behind the door. She picks Brahms up and praises him for a job well down. Greta and Malcolm walk outside the grounds and have a talk. They figure it must be a spirit in the doll. Malcolm is still a bit disturbed, but Greta mentions that she understands the Heelshires more. She explains her past and her long relationship with Cole, who was sometimes abusive. She became pregnant but lost her baby when Cole got violent with her. So she can relate to the Heelshires because they lost a baby too. Malcolm comforts her, and they kiss. They go back inside to her room. They start kissing and lie down on the bed, presumably intending to make love. We something watching them through the keyhole and before things get really far, they hear music from another room interrupting them. They go downstairs and find the doll in the study. Greta figures he is not happy and puts him back to bed. Malcolm is unnerved. He talks to Greta about something 20 years ago that he held back because he didn't want to scare her. There was a girl that would play with Brahms every week. On the day of his death, the girl went missing while they were playing. Afterward, the house burned up, and Brahms died. They later found the girl's body in the woods, her skull completely crushed in. Malcolm isn't completely sure if the doll is holding a good guy ghost spirit. Greta knows Brahms wouldn't hurt her. She asks Malcolm go home for now (remember the No Guest rule?). While Greta puts Brahms to bed, she whispers, "You wouldn't hurt me, would you Brahms?" The next morning, Greta is making breakfast when she hears the billiard balls clacking from the study. She picks up Brahms and heads over, thinking its Malcolm. Its Cole! Greta tells him he shouldn't be here. He chides that he just wants to say hi to the kid. Greta clutches Brahms to her protectively, and Cole realizes its a doll and laughs. Greta admits that they pay her to take care of a doll. She makes dinner and seats Brahms with them. Cole talks about how he found her a job back home. He keeps trailing off by the doll's stare on him. Malcolm comes by, and he and Cole have a mini-standoff. Malcolm peels her away by asking her to look at the groceries. They talk about Cole, who should not stay here, as he will hurt her. Greta denies either would happen and tells him she will take care of it. Malcolm gives a curt goodbye to Cole and leaves. He doesn't leave, but parks outside a ways and keeps watch. Greta brings blankets and pillows for him which Cole takes to mean he won't be sleeping in her bed. Before she leaves, Cole holds her painfully and tells her hes not letting her go again. He expects her packed by the morning and that they are leaving. Greta tears up and leaves. Greta puts Brahms to bed, hugging him. She whispers tearfully that she needs his help before she goes to bed and falls asleep. Cole wakes in the middle of the night to blood dripping on his head. He wakes up and yells for Greta. She comes downstairs and sees a bunch of the rat carcasses from the traps and a bloody message written on the walls above that says 'Get Out'. Cole thinks Greta did it, which she vehemently denies it. They then spot the doll in the corner, and she runs to him, saying "Brahms! What did you do?!" Cole is angry and grabs the doll. Greta backtracks and now tries to tell Cole it was her that did it. Cole seems to believe the doll had something to do with it, especially because hes been disturbed out by it from the start. Malcolm hears the commotion and runs in to see what is going on. He sees Cole waving the doll around. Greta is frantic, and they both try to grab the doll away from Cole. Cole eventually smashes the doll into the ground on purpose, shattering it into pieces. Immediately, the walls start shaking and the house starts "groaning". All three of them begin to panic. Malcolm wants to leave, but Cole shushes him. Cole puts his ear against a mirror on the wall, following the noise as it quiets. Suddenly, the mirror shatters and something bursts from the walls. It is a huge figure with a porcelain mask over his face. Malcolm concludes it must be Brahms, who never died in the fire, but Greta can't believe it. Brahms immediately goes for knocked down Cole. Malcolm and Greta try to stop him, but Brahms knocks them both aside and stabs Cole in the neck with a shard from the broken doll. Brahms tries to drag Greta away but Malcolm knocks him down and gets Greta up and they flee.. Greta and Malcolm head to the front door, which is blocked off by Brahms. He is finding quicker routes to possible escape routes. They run upstairs to hide in her room, locking the door. Brahms stands at the doorway. Greta finds a panel in the wall, and they both go through a pathway in the walls. Greta finds some stairs that lead up and into some small room beside the attic. It is OLD and has a fridge and very rough living accommodations. There's a patchwork, life-size figure on the bed which is a fabric doll wearing Greta's missing coral dress, along with her jewelry and the head has her locks attached to it. We now realize the truth, which is that Brahms never died. He's psychotic (probably since even before murdering the girl). He has been living in the walls for 20 years, and Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire has been enabling everything in order to keep their son. They used to interact with him through the doll. Greta finds the letter written by Mrs. Heelshire and realizes that they were leaving her to take care of him forever. She is hysterical, realizing the adult Brahms was watching her every movement while Malcolm keeps trying to find another path out. He finds one, and has Greta go through first while Brahms bursts through. There's a part where they have crawled through, but there's a hatch that leads outside! Brahms follows through, holding a bigger shard in his hand and Malcolm tells Greta to move on. Greta doesn't want to leave him, but he runs at Brahms to hold him off. Brahms is huge and overpowers Malcolm. He smashes his fist in Malcolm's head, and Malcolm is knocked out. Brahms heads towards Greta, telling her in a small child voice for her to stay. She finally gets it open and leaps through. Brahms can't catch up due to the part where he has to crawl and screams after her, now in a more adult voice, to get back her and that if she doesn't stay he will finish off Malcolm and kill him like he did everyone else(Cole,the girl and the nannies he "rejected")! Greta runs and makes it towards the gates before she stops and turns back. She is facing her abuser, and she wants to save Malcolm. She heads to the door and pockets a long letter opener she finds. She goes towards Cole's dead body where Brahms is standing. The mask completely covers his face except his eyes and large tufts of facial hair is visible around it. Greta tells Brahms she told him she would come back and she would never leave, so she is keeping her promise. Brahms reaches for her and Greta stops him still when she uses her nanny voice, telling Brahms its time for bed. It triggers something in him, and he follows obediently. She puts him in bed, and he whispers, Kiss but she retreats, saying "no kiss" as his punishment. She pulls away, and he grabs her and says kiss again, a bit more forcibly. She haltingly presses her lips to the porcelain mask and Brahms starts to pull her closer. She takes the letter opener and stabs Brahms in the stomach. He recoils and throws her off him on the wall. He immediately starts to strangle her and Greta almost passes out, but she manages to grip the letter opener and push it in more. Brahms collapses, and Greta runs past him to the hidden pathways to see if Malcolm is okay. Part of Brahms mask is shattered, and we see the burned skin underneath. Malcolm is alive and wakes with some large contusions on his face. She gets him out of there, and they drive off from Heelshire manor. The final shot cuts to someone painstakingly piecing the doll back together. Brahms is still alive, presumably. He then looks into the camera, whole - as if none of this ever happened. The End

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Film Review: ‘The Boy’

Despite game efforts by the cast, this tepid horror opus is never scary enough to overcome its silly premise.

By Joe Leydon

Film Critic

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While it’s arguable that their performances are not quite Oscar-caliber, the lead players in “ The Boy ” nonetheless merit kudos of some sort simply for maintaining straight faces while muddling through the absurdities of this tepid horror opus. Despite the assiduous grinding of plot mechanics by William Brent Bell (“The Devil Inside”) and scripter Stacey Menear, the movie never fully distracts its audience from the inherent silliness of its premise — a young woman is hired by an elderly couple as a nanny for a life-sized doll — and, as a result, is more likely to elicit laughs and rude remarks rather than screams and rooting interest. Still, a respectable opening-weekend gross is possible, given the current lack of similar product in the megaplex marketplace.

Lauren Cohan of TV’s “The Walking Dead” stars as Greta, an American who opts to get far away from an abusive boyfriend by traveling all the way to a distant corner of the British countryside. She winds up at a Gothic manor home near an isolated village, to interview for what she thinks will be the job of caring for an 8-year-old boy.

The good news: She lands the gig. The bad news: Her aged employees, Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire (Jim Norton, Diana Hardcastle), want her to watch over Brahms, a life-sized china doll they treat as their son. The worse news: The Heelshires quickly depart for an extended vacation, leaving Greta alone with Brahms in an old dark house where things go bump in the night, items inexplicably disappear and/or relocate, and sporadic dream-sequence fakeouts provide low-voltage shocks.

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Rupert Evans — who, in more than a few shots here, looks as though he could pass for Brad Pitt’s younger brother — pops up occasionally as Malcom, a hunky deliveryman who divides his time between flirting with Greta and telling her about the “real” Brahms, an 8-year-old youngster who reportedly perished in a house fire 20 years earlier. (The still-grieving Heelshires, he adds, have treasured the doll as a stand-in for their lost little boy ever since.) But it’s not until Greta shares her suspicions that Brahms’ ghost may be haunting the house, and possessing the doll, that Malcom tells the rest of the story: Brahms wasn’t exactly a little angel when he was alive and kicking. And his spirit almost certainly isn’t blithe.

To give credit where it is due: Bell, with no small amount of help from lenser Daniel Pearl and production designer John Willett, generates some palpable suspense during atmospheric sequences in which Greta explores the nooks and crannies of Heelshire manor. And editor Brian Berdan deserves praise for seamlessly interlacing scenes actually shot in two different houses and various studio sets.

But there is just so much that can be done to counterbalance the laugh-out-loud daftness of scenes that call for Cohan run the gamut from cynical to fearful to maternal while acting opposite her china-doll co-star. (Not that it’s Cohan’s fault — she overplays from time to time, but gives the movie much more than it ever gives her.) And it doesn’t help much that a ridiculous third-act plot twist is capped off with an anticlimactic finale. Boy, talk about a surefire way of guaranteeing bad word of mouth.

Reviewed at Edwards Marq*E Stadium 23, Houston, Jan. 21, 2016. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 97 MIN.

• Production: An STX Entertainment release and presentation in association with Lakeshore Entertainment and Huayi Brothers of a Lakeshore Entertainment and STX Entertainment production, in association with Vertigo Entertainment. Produced by Jim Wedaa, Roy Lee, Matt Berenson, Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright. Executive producers, Eric Reid, David Kern, John Powers Middleton, Robert Simonds, Adam Fogelson, Oren Aviv, Wang Zhongjun, Wang Zhonglei, Donald Tang.
• Crew: Directed by William Brent Bell. Screenplay, Stacey Menear. Camera (color), Daniel Pearl; editor, Brian Berdan; music, Bear McCreary; production designer, John Willett; art director, James Steuart; costume designer, Jori Woodman; sound, Kevin Sands; associate producer, Jackie Shenoo; assistant director, Paul Barry; casting, Julie Hutchinson.
• With: Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, Jim Norton, Diana Hardcastle, Ben Robson, James Russell.

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The Boy (2016) Ending, Explained

Since its inception way back in the late 80s, doll horror has now become a classic trope of the genre and if you think about it, executing it in an audio-visual medium is no piece of cake. Doll horror, if not pulled off correctly, can often become more of a parody that no one would take seriously. But despite all the complications that it comes with, every once in a while filmmakers take the risk of giving us yet another doll horror film.

‘The Boy’ is another one of these movies, but instead of treading the familiar generic “paranormal” path, the film brings its own twists and turns to stand out in the overcrowded sub-genre. And since the twists in it can often get a little more complex than would expect, you might need some explaining to understand what happens throughout its runtime. So read on ahead to get a better hold on what the movie tries to portray.

Plot Summary

An American woman named Greta takes up the job of babysitting a young boy in the secluded British town. But when she arrives there, it turns out that she is expected to be the nanny of a life-sized porcelain doll. For obvious reasons, she does not take her job too seriously and simply assumes that the doll’s “parents” are only using it to cope with the death of their son. But soon, she discovers that the doll holds far more secrets than she had initially imagined.

Brahms’ Origins, Explained

Greta, the main protagonist of the film, accepts the job of babysitting a young boy, but to her surprise, this boy turns out to be a porcelain doll named Brahms. And as strange as it may seem, Greta just goes on ahead to do her job. After the boy’s parents leave for a vacation, hoping that Greta will be able to take care of his, things start to get really creepy. Curious to find out more about the doll, Greta begins to investigate its past and asks Malcolm what he knows.

Malcolm tells her that Brahms was once a real boy and was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire. But then, one day, their house caught fire and after not being able to escape on time, Brahms died. At first, he claims that the doll is simply a coping mechanism for the family to deal with their loss. However, in another scene, he recalls that there two polar stories surrounding the boy’s past.

There are some people in the town who feel sorry for him as they remember him being a very good boy, but on the other hand, there are others who claim that the boy was evil. Malcolm also tells her about this one incident where he met Mr. Heelshire wrapping his drunk around the pool table and mumbling to himself. Taking advantage of the situation, Malcolm had asked him what Brahms was like when he was alive. To this, Mr. Heelshire had only responded with one word—”odd.”

When the doll starts showing signs of life and Malcolm realizes that Greta is getting attached to him, he warns her by disclosing a more detailed story surrounding Brahms’ death. According to what he knows, when he was a child, Brahms used to play with another girl of his age named Emily Cribbs. On Brahms’ 8th birthday, Emily went to play with Brahms in the Heelshire mansion and never returned. Her body was later discovered in the woods with her skull crushed. When the cops arrived at the mansion to question the young boy, it was already burning down and Brahms was later found dead. With this, Malcolm concludes that Brahms’ spirit, which seemingly resides in the doll, could possibly evil.

Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire’s Suicide

After familiarizing Greta with a set of rules that she is expected to follow, Brahms’ parents leave her all alone with the doll and head off for a vacation. However, it later turns out that the whole vacation thing was just a lie. A scene later reveals Mrs. Heelshire writing a later to Brahms which states: “We cannot bear to live with what you have become. The girl is yours now.” After writing this letter, both Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire stuff their coats with rocks and commit suicide. As a viewer, at this point, you assume that Brahms’ parents were probably being haunted by the spirit of the doll and that’s when they finally decided to end their lives. But the truth is a lot more complex than that.

Greta’s Past and a Reflection of her Toxic Relationships

Greta’s past and her own insecurities are a secondary part of the film’s overarching storyline, but they play a key role in reflecting her relationship with Brahms. Greta comes to the Heelshire mansion 20 years after the Brahms’ death to babysit the doll. In its initial moments, it is foreshadowed that Greta is actually an American and she only took up this job to escape her previous abusive relationship with a man named Cole. More so, she also has a restraining order against this ex-boyfriend.

But after moving into the Heelshire mansion, things eventually start getting a lot better for her. She gets close to Malcolm and also seeks to mend her broken heart by looking out for Brahms. Although she is initially creeped out by the doll, she later assumes that Brahms is only the spirit of an innocent young boy who wants to be cared for. But eventually, she, too, realizes that the truth holds a lot more gravity than that.

The Ending: Is Brahms Still Alive?

Much later in the movie, Gerta’s ex-boyfriend shows up at the mansion and asks her to come back to him. He orders her to pack her bags so that they can leave the next day. Greta goes to sleep with the doll and promises it that she’ll never leave while Cole sleeps in a different room. In the middle of the night, blood drips down from the ceiling on Cole’s face and he assumes that is Greta is doing this just to get him out of there. He calls her to the room and shows her a bloody inscription on the wall that says “Get Out.” Realizing that Brahms did it using rat blood, she tries explaining it to him, but he refuses to believe her.

Even Malcolm ends up joining them and he, too, tries to convince Cole that there’s a lot more to the doll than meets the eye. Cole gets a fit of anger and he smashes the doll’s face. This is when the walls of the entire house start creaking and a full-blown man in his twenties, wearing a porcelain mask, emerges out from the back of a mirror. He kills Cole, Malcolm and Greta soon realize that he is the actual Brahms. The doll was somewhat of a pawn to hide the fact that he still lives in the house and this itself was being mildly foreshadowed throughout the runtime of the film.

Greta and Malcolm try to find their way out of the house to escape Brahms, but only Greta is able to get out. In order to save Malcolm, she returns to the mansion and tells Brahms that she came back for him. She then tells him that according to his rules, it’s now time for him to go to sleep. Just when he asks her to give her a goodnight kiss, she stabs him with a screwdriver and gets out of there with Malcolm. In the closing scene of the film, Brahms can be seen putting back pieces of the doll together, suggesting that he is probably still alive.

From all of this, we can deduce that Brahms never died in the first place. He was always a twisted little kid and he ended up murdering Emily Cribbs on his 8th birthday. To save him from the world, his parents faked his death and hid him in the walls of their grand mansion. Since then, Brahms has been lurking in the shadows of the mansion, pretending that he is dead to the world. This explains how he’s a full-grown man now. It also reflects on why Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire committed suicide. Eventually, their guilt outweighed their love for their child and they decided to end their own suffering.

Apart from this, the ending of the film also reflects on how Greta chooses to finally recover from her past by ending all of her previous toxic relationships. From the beginning of the film, she clearly struggles to get rid of Cole and finds it hard to move on. Even after moving on ahead with her life, she jumps into a toxic relationship with Brahms without even knowing who he truly is. In the final moments of the movie, when she decides to kill Brahms and save Malcolm, she liberates herself from her skewed sense of attachment towards all the destructive people in her life.

Visual Metaphors of ‘The Boy’, Explained

There are several hints dropped throughout the runtime of the film, that lead up to its big reveal and it’s these hints that will further help you understand who Brahms is and how has he been able to move the doll all this while.

• In the beginning of the movie, when Mrs. Heelshire tells Greta about the rules of the house, she makes it clear that Brahms likes his music loud and even when she’s reading something to him, she should be loud and clear with her words. This suggests that since Brahms lives in the walls, music or anything that is being read out to him should be loud enough to be audible through the walls.
• As soon as she enters the Heelshire mansion, Greta hears weird noises in the walls and even throughout the movie, there seem to be weird sounds flowing through the pipelines of the mansion. These sounds simply indicate that Brahms is moving inside the walls and is keeping a close eye on Greta.
• Before leaving her with Brahms, Mrs. Heelshire tells Greta “Despite what it looks like on the outside, our son is still here with us. Do you understand?” He is, indeed, still with them.
• Mrs. Heelshire also tells her that they save all of their uneaten food and it is pretty obvious that all of this food goes to Brahms.
• The Heelshires also seem to be very particular about keeping their house vermin free. They emphasize on how she’s expected to keep the mouse traps clean so that none of the mice enter the walls of the house. Well, with this, they’re clearly trying to keep the walls clean so that Brahms can move around freely and not pull off any mischief with the rats.
• When Greta gets trapped in the Attic for the first time, she sees a large silhouette and not of a childlike doll.
• Mrs. Heelshire tells Greta that Brahms is shy and only moves when no one is watching. Even in the scene where Greta tries to prove it to Malcolm that the doll is alive, she first knocks on the wall and only then the house begins to creak and the doll moves. This shows that the doll was never actually moving on its own but was being moved by the real Brahms who lives in the walls.
• The film drops another subtle hint through one of Greta’s dream. She dreams of Brahms’ hand coming right out of a wall to choke her.
• One final hint that most viewers might have missed out on is the epitaph on Brahms’ tombstone. It says: “…he shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

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The Boy movie review: best part about this horror film is, it doesn’t waste too much time getting started

The worst part about the boy is just when the premise starts to work, thanks in large part to praiseworthy acting by all its main protagonists particularly the boy's aged parents, director bell loses control..

The best part about this horror film is that it doesn’t waste too much time getting started. Greta (Cohan) arrives for a nanny job to a storybook mansion deep in the English countryside, to find dark corridors, creaking floors, an unnervingly large family portrait, mysterious owners, and a porcelain doll standing in for a dead boy. There is a grocery delivery man who is pleasantly flirtatious but he does ask her to spit out her “chewing gum” so that he can tell her future.

The worst part about The Boy is just when the premise starts to work, thanks in large part to praiseworthy acting by all its main protagonists particularly the boy’s aged parents, director Bell loses control. From a film about parents dealing with a serious problem it becomes a story about a woman (Greta) alone in that size mansion with a doll that size. From a film about things that go bump at night, particularly after every visit by that particularly gracious delivery man (Evans), it becomes about Greta developing feelings about the doll. From a scared nanny she becomes a woman who has just lost a baby.

Any hopes still left die with the painfully ludicrous third part that has to be seen to be believed. Or maybe not.

Directed by William Brent Bell

Starring Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans

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‘Boy Kills World’ review: Bill Skarsgård strikes a satisfying punch

Movie review.

If a movie originally had a different voice actor and only a bunch of festivalgoers in Toronto heard them, should you just get the lovely H. Jon Benjamin of “Bob’s Burgers” to do it instead? In the case of “Boy Kills World,” the answer is a resounding yes. Giving life to the inner voice of Bill Skarsgård’s Boy, a man seeking revenge in a fascist dystopia, Benjamin provides just the right balance of sincerity and snark to hold this dark action-comedy together. When combined with bloody good action choreography, the film mostly knocks any flaws aside.

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This all kicks off with what is essentially an extended training montage that doubles as a speedy origin story for Boy. Left both deaf and mute after his family was killed, he now trains with the man who saved him. Embodied with playful panache by Yayan Ruhian of the spectacular “The Raid” films , he seeks to shape Boy into a weapon so that the scrappy youngster can take down those responsible for his loss: the Van Der Koy family. While this drags on a bit too long, the pace soon picks up when Boy finds an opening to strike at the heart of the corrupt dynasty. 

And goodness does he strike. 

The creative variety of weapons, from a cheese grater to a giant cereal mascot, is matched only by the precise stunt choreography that ensures every battle packs the necessary punch. The film is abundantly silly, but the craft behind the action is serious business and impeccably realized. It’s not quite on the level of something like the “John Wick” series, which Skarsgård recently starred in the fourth entry of , but it’s still sufficiently fun. 

Some of the supporting cast drags it down, with Brett Gelman’s woefully one-note performance as a midlevel baddie sticking out as the worst. Thankfully, an initial foe played by Jessica Rothe of the delightful “ Happy Death Day ” films and an ally played by Andrew Koji of the stellar series “Warrior” provide redemption. 

Even when a late twist lands awkwardly, the final deadly dance that follows is a work of graceful and gruesome art. It not only leaps free of anything that was holding it back, but it does so in beautiful, brutal fashion. Whatever hangups you have, a surefire way to make you forget them is with a diving head butt in slow motion. To me, that’s cinema.

With Bill Skarsgård, H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Rothe, Yayan Ruhian, Famke Janssen, Andrew Koji. Directed by Moritz Mohr, from a screenplay by Tyler Burton Smith and Arend Remmers. 115 minutes. Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, language, some drug use and sexual references. Opens April 25 at multiple theaters.

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The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.

Boy Kills World Review: A Wild Ride Not for the Faint of Heart

The deaf and mute Boy (Bill Skarsgård) swears vengeance against ruthless oppressors after his family's murder.

• A ripped Bill Skarsgård shines in Boy Kills World with immense physicality and depth, and he faces off against well-written villains.
• Wonderful narration from H. Jon Benjamin and trippy visuals keeps the movie fun and often very funny.
• It's a violent ride for action junkies, though it may be too frenetic and over the top for some people.

Boy Kills World will kick your ass and break a foot doing it between bouts of raucous laughter. The hyperkinetic actioner takes familiar themes to glorious heights with creative direction, an all-star cast, and surprising plot twists that reframe the narrative during a bold climax. Bill Skarsgård is a beast and a half in a literally silent performance. His deaf and mute protagonist pounds baddies to a bloody pulp with emotive facial expressions . The character's thoughts are heard through hilarious voiceover narration by H. Jon Benjamin. Boy Kills World never takes its foot off the gas. The adrenaline rush may become tiresome for some audiences, but action junkies will be in heaven.

In a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future , the ruthless Hilda van der Koy (Famke Janssen) and her bickering siblings rule a sprawling city with an iron fist. They use "Culling Day" to quiet dissent through public executions staged with theatrical flair . Hilda's brother, Gideon (Brett Gelman), constructs fiendish plots under the direction of their sister, Melanie (Michelle Dockery), the true brains behind the van der Koy operation. Glen (Sharlto Copley), Melanie's witless trophy husband, serves as a TV host and ringmaster for the slaughter. June 27 (Jessica Rothe) rounds out the gang as their lethal enforcer. She wears a helmet that digitally broadcasts her intentions before gleefully gutting victims.

Young Boy (Cameron Crovetti) pushes his cabbage cart through teeming streets. He reads the lips of the fearful while observing van der Koy atrocities. Boy remembers watching his mother and beloved little sister, Mina, brutally murdered on Culling Day. His escape into the woods hardened a steely resolve for revenge. He becomes an unparalleled fighter under the Shaman's (Yayan Ruhian) cruel tutelage. Years later, the adult Boy (Skarsgård) is tired of training. It's time to annihilate the van der Koys at all costs, but how can he get close to them?

The Murderous Theatrics of Boy Kills World

Boy kills world.

• Bill Skarsgård is a work of art in Boy Kills World.
• Delirious and inventive action sequences with a ton of humor.
• Great characters and some big surprises keep the movie exciting.
• The movie may be too frenetic and over the top for some people.

Boy Kills World has all the tenets of an insanely violent video game. It eclipses that limited scope by having fascinating characters with far more depth than expected . German filmmaker Moritz Mohr, stunning in his feature debut, peels back layers through carefully crafted exposition. What's on the surface is not indicative of the undercurrents below.

The van der Koys are not cut from the same diabolical cloth. Gideon, for example, has a fascinating character arc that explores his desire to be respected as a writer. He takes his role seriously and constantly chafes at his sister Melanie's meddling. She couldn't give a hoot about his artistic integrity. Melanie understands the power of broadcast carnage to tame unruly masses. Her bread and circus spectacles have the singular intent of preserving their family's authoritarian dynasty. Gelman, Dockery, and a scene-stealing Copley bring interpersonal heft and realism to the bloodbath.

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Bill skarsgård kills it in brilliantly directed action scenes.

Skarsgård is absolutely shredded in a highly physical, nuanced performance . His towering, lean frame looks etched out of stone as he punches, kicks, and shoots everything van der Koy. But Boy isn't a mindless killing machine. His inner voice, taken from a favorite fighting game, gives light to a wounded and thoughtful disposition.

Boy interacts with a ghostly vision of his deceased sister as a sort of moral guide. She's the proverbial angel on his shoulder whose innocence tries to stop a relentless rampage. Skarsgård's haunted eyes serve as the window to his soul. They speak volumes of true feelings as Boy's quest goes in an unexpected direction. The film's whopper reveals are stunning .

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Mohr's action scenes are dynamite covered in gasoline. His brilliant camera placement captures the amazing fight choreography in long, fluid sequences . This is especially well done when Boy has to turn corners or swiftly change directions. The camera parabolically swings around as he attacks and defends himself. Mohr doesn't use edits or jump cuts to speed up the action. Timing in these set-ups is key. No one can miss their marks or the shot is ruined. Mohr has sharp technical acumen and a clear vision of every position's progress, but keeps Boy's perspective central. It's hard to believe this is Mohr's first film. He's got a bright future in Hollywood.

Silly & Savage but Maybe Frenetic to a Fault

The film has trippy visuals that bolster the comedic elements . Let's just say the Shaman isn't just high on life. Wacky is an understatement. Mohr gets downright bonkers as Boy's imagination runs wild. These scenes will have some rolling with laughter and lose others completely. Mohr's ping pong bounce between silly and savage won't be everyone's cup of tea. This, combined with the frenetic nature of the story, has a fire hose delivery to a perceived fault . Boy Kills World is a wild ride not for the faint of heart.

Boy Kills World is a production of Nthibah Pictures, Hammerstone Studios, Raimi Productions, and Vertigo Entertainment. It will be released theatrically on April 26th from Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate . You can watch the trailer below.

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The Boy Reviews

So dark and so deep... really authentic.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | May 12, 2021

With how slow the film is, and the fact that all the action only really occurs within the last 15 minutes of the film (and even then it isn't that action packed), I would say this film is definitely not for everyone.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Nov 2, 2018

A thoughtful story that is as touching as it is unnerving, The Boy is an unflinching & powerfully poetic examination of the human psyche that never passes judgment on its titular character, even after he's unleashed his inner lunatic on the world.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 6, 2016

An austere and chilling portrait of America's abandoned margins, The Boy is a slow-burner that builds and builds to its climactic conflagration, and offers a dark, disturbing flipside to Richard Linklater's Boyhood (2014).

Full Review | Nov 6, 2015

It succeeds in conveying the dark edge of an effective thriller, but it lacks the human sentiment -- the poignancy, the devastation -- that would've made it soar above less heady genre fare.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 16, 2015

It makes no bones about the fact that there is something critically broken in Ted. The question for the audience is whether it is nature, nurture, or a mixture of both.

Full Review | Sep 11, 2015

Not since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer has a movie gotten inside the head of a killer with such cold-blooded artistry.

Full Review | Sep 1, 2015

The Boy is a title that makes this movie sound innocuous. A more fitting header would be Portrait of the Serial Killer as a Young Boy.

The Boy is a very slow burn, one that successfully works to the narrative at hand, but isn't particularly enjoyable to watch.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 28, 2015

Chapman and Macneill have a truly chilling character whose evolution will be both fascinating and frightening to watch unfold.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Aug 21, 2015

Mr. Macneill and his co-screenwriter, Clay McLeod Chapman, have developed a feature stunning to behold if somewhat unpersuasive in narrative.

Full Review | Aug 20, 2015

The film feels overly long, and while lingering shots of the mountain scenery do help convey the isolation of the deserted motel, too many of them feel repetitive.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Aug 18, 2015

Craig William Macneill's film is a sporadically frightening slow burn with a fatally overlong fuse.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 18, 2015

While the score goes out of its way to make his every action feel sinister, the picture doesn't fulfill its horrific potential until the third act.

Full Review | Aug 12, 2015

While it's admirable that director Macneill and his co-scripter Clay McLeod Chapman opted to emphasize mood and psychology over the story's more exploitable elements, it nonetheless results in a listless tedium.

Full Review | Aug 10, 2015

The director tries to generate a pace that his dramatic efforts fail to match.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Aug 10, 2015

The Boy's most disturbing facet is the possibilities it imagines.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Aug 10, 2015

The scariest aspect of "The Boy" is the extent to which Macneill makes it possible to sympathize with the troubled protagonist -- even as its haunting final shot hints at the horrors yet to come.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Aug 10, 2015

The Boy burrowed under my skin in a big way.

By the time the film goes out in a blazing inferno of hell-raising loneliness and tops itself off with the best final line-to-credit song combo since Killer Joe, The Boy has reached a point of stupid fun.

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‘Boy Kills World’ Review: Bill Skarsgård Goes Full Deadpool in a Gonzo Action Movie

David ehrlich.

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Another point in its favor: The film ’s hyper-logorrheic protagonist doesn’t actually talk , on account of the fact that his tongue was sliced off when he was a child. “Boy” communicates to us instead through the magic of his internal monologue, for which he permanently assigned the voice of H. Jon Benjamin because the “Bob’s Burgers” actor sounds like a little boy’s idea of a lovable vigilante, equal parts Ryan Reynolds and Christian Bale.  Related Stories Let’s Do the Zack Snyder Math on ‘Rebel Moon — Part Two’ Netflix Viewership Cormac McCarthy’s ‘Blood Meridian’ Being Adapted by ‘Gladiator’ Writer John Logan

As with most of the details that make up Moritz Mohr’s all too zany debut, it’s a clever device that would’ve been funny if it had been funny. But in spite of its demented enthusiasm (as well as this independently financed, Sam Raimi-produced film’s welcome rejection of anything that might resemble a studio note), Mohr’s frenetic and exhausting video game of a movie doesn’t know where to focus its energy. Which brings us to some other reasons why “Boy Kills World” feels like such a fitting appetizer for “Deadpool & Wolverine”: Its self-awareness blinds the script from seeing its own weaknesses, while its non-stop quippery is used to disguise a story that doesn’t have a single coherent thing to say — a benign feature that swiftly turns into a fatal bug after a third act plot twist reveals the narrative’s full ambition.

He and his kid sister Mina (Quinn Copeland) used to hang out at the local arcade, which explains his penchant for thinking in video game terms, but that was before Hilda personally shot Mina and his mother in the head. The execution left Boy deaf, mute, and desperate for any reason to keep living. That’s exactly what he got from the shaman in the forest (“The Raid” star Yayan Ruhian), who trained Boy to become the ultimate weapon of revenge, indifferent to the fact that his trauma-induced psychosis was growing at the same rate as his combat skills. 

That’s true enough of the film’s delirious fight sequences as well, which are at their best when they privilege unexpected silliness over moments of self-insistent flippancy. The part where Skarsgård eviscerates one of Hilda’s goons with a cheese grater? Fantastic. The bit where one of his disposable new allies displays his skills at hiding behind a cart while Boy, ecstatic over having a teammate for the first time in his life, kills all the bad guys? Delightful. The extended scene where Boy slaughters the Culling’s official costumed mascots in a TV studio, one of whom is dressed like a giant pineapple? Less so, and made even worse because the film neglects to do much of anything with the observation that “the real world” has become impossible to distinguish from the stuff of Boy’s deranged mind.

It’s brutal that “Boy Kills World” decides to get serious at the precise moment when it runs out of momentum, but the movie feels all too compelled to justify the visual extravagances it’s piled up along the way. The sudden pivot from the cool for coolness’ sake logic of a side-scrolling beat-em-up to the dramatic backstory of a “Metal Gear Solid” underscores Mohr’s inability to balance them both at once (not everybody can be Hideo Kojima), and characters like Jessica Rothe’s June27 — a masked swordswoman whose thoughts are expressed through the LED screen on her motorcycle helmet — become considerably less awesome the moment the script calls for them to be anything else as well. 

Roadside Attractions will release “Boy Kills World” in theaters on Friday, April 26.

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Boy Kills World review – ripped Bill Skarsgård shows he’s got brutal action chops

As a mute avenger against a dystopian tyranny – looking like a lethal Buster Keaton – the actor makes you wish the film itself was as purposeful

B ill Skarsgård – one of eight Skarsgård siblings, six of whom work as actors – has hitherto carved out a bit of a niche as the best one to hire when you need a Skarsgård with a bit of a creepy vibe. He’s played a possibly dangerous stranger (Barbarian), a vampire (Hemlock Grove), delivered an unforgettably nasty Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the recent IT, and is about to star as the titular character in The Crow reboot. In Boy Kills World, however, he proves there’s another string to his bow: bona fide action star.

Rippling with muscles, Skarsgård plays Boy, one of those “I am an instrument shaped for a single purpose” types that thrive in the action genre. The single purpose is a time-honoured one: revenge. In this case it is against Famke Janssen’s Hilda van der Koy, the head of a wealthy ruling family in a totalitarian state which subjects its population to an annual “culling”, during which supposed dissidents and traitors are executed. Having lost loved ones to one of these state-mandated execution sprees, Boy is now out to exact a bit of eye-for-an-eye and, as the title of the movie implies, anyone who presents an obstacle to said quest will be treated as a legitimate target and summarily kersplatted.

Skarsgård is a treat in the role; the character is deaf and mute, so his performance approaches something of a lethal Buster Keaton (though we do hear Boy’s thoughts as voiceover throughout). Unfortunately, you will often find yourself hoping the film can match his level. It’s nearly there, but the blend of Deadpool-esque comic violence with Hunger Game-style worldbuilding and character archetypes borrowed from everything from anime to Hong Kong action movies to video games, never quite manages to step out of the shadow of its various influences.

The plot is a bit overworked too, with a few too many flashbacks and revelations; all we really want from this kind of midnight movie is fun characters, a snappy runtime and as many lethal set pieces as possible. It’s easy to imagine a leaner edit that addresses some of this; it just needs someone prepared to be as brutal as Boy is when it comes to taking out anything standing in the way.

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‘Boy Kills World’: See Bill Kill. Kill, Bill, Kill!

By David Fear

To some, he’ll always be Pennywise, the eternal sewer-dwelling clown of your nightmares. To others, he’s the hapless, unlucky Air Bnb occupant in Barbarian or the ambitious, sniveling Marquis in the John Wick -iverse. And to still others, he’s the kid who followed his dad Stellan and his older brother Alexander into the family business, carving out a nice niche playing weirdos, monsters and assorted oddballs. Soon, people will think of Bill Skarsgård as the Next Action-Movie Savior, with the 33-year-old Swedish actor stepping into the lead role in The Crow and bravely attempting to outrun the shadow of Brandon Lee. (Should you wonder whether he’s given up characters destined to haunt the collective consciousness, don’t worry: Skarsgård is also playing the feral vampire in Nosferatu, Robert Eggers’ remake of the 1922 German silent.)

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All the more reason, then, to circle back to Bill Skarsgård. If he isn’t quite the saving grace of Boy Kills World that you want him to be, he’s definitely the most compelling reason to see it. Watching the long-limbed actor pummel and slide his way through a lot of hand-to-hand, foot-to-torso and fist-to-face combat — notably in an extended bout with Ruhian, a sequence that suggests a more kinetic, disciplined film lurking beneath the sniggering, adolescent brouhaha — you at least feel like he’s got the goods regarding a potential Crow franchise. Considering that Boy never speaks, and that Skarsgård has to convey everything through his face and posture while also contending with an annoying video-game-announcer voiceover, the degree of difficulty is upped substantially. The movie starts off as yet another Kill Bill, et al. clone. Thanks to its star, it at least goes out as something closer to Kill, Bill, Kill!

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