Boy, The (2016)
Ari Drew
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Starring Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, James Russell
Directed by William Brent Bell
On the whole, horror films released during the “dump months” of January and February tend to get a bad rap even before audiences lay eyes on them. Films relegated to these months are not really ever expected to be critical and commercial darlings, so it’s reasonable that critics go into many of these films preparing themselves for the worst.
Even independent of this fact, my expectations for William Brent Bell’s The Boy were admittedly low from the get-go, namely due to the silly trailer and the fact that some of Bell’s previous efforts have fallen quite flat (see: Stay Alive, The Devil Inside). On top of that, it has also arguably been a while since the “evil doll” subgenre has been done proper justice, so I was firmly pointed in the direction of a heavy cynical bias by the time I took my seat. That being established, I will just say that there are few things as refreshing to a critic as having such dismal expectations subverted (even just a little bit).
Here’s the deal: The Boy is not the most innovative horror film of late, and despite its premise, it is not the most original either. Additionally, it does get very silly at points. However, it is far more entertaining and far less “stupid” (a label that often unfairly and prematurely gets thrown at projects that dabble in fringe horror) than one might ever expect it to be.
The film follows Greta (Cohan, “The Walking Dead”), an American who moves to the English countryside to take a live-in nanny position for the mysterious Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire (Jim Norton and Diana Hardcastle, who earn every penny of their paycheck here). However, upon arriving she is shocked to find that their eight-year-old son Brahms is actually a life-size porcelain doll. Though at first taken aback, Greta ultimately decides to play along with the Heelshires, treating Brahms like a flesh-and-blood child and following a stringent checklist of daily responsibilities that include story times, bedtime rituals, and more. After the Heelshires depart for a long overdue vacation, leaving Greta alone to care for Brahms in their massively brooding country home, strange and inexplicable occurrences begin to befall the unsuspecting nanny. Before long, Greta is convinced that perhaps there is something more to Brahms than meets the eye.
From the get-go, the most engaging aspect of The Boy lies in its inherent absurdity. The film features unapologetically audacious turns and tonal shifts that may have some theatergoers muttering, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” but the execution remains consistently amusing. The first act, which focuses on Greta’s introduction to Brahms and the Heelshires, is played with a gleefully unflinching poker face. The performances across the board are surprisingly solid for a horror film, and all of the players here — from the very game Cohan to The Canal’s Rupert Evans as the charming “grocery man” Malcolm — feel 100% on board for what Bell and screenwriter Stacey Menear are throwing their way. As Greta’s willingness to play along with Brahms’ very unique condition ultimately grows, Bell and Menear hope that the audience will stick with her for the ride — and one’s enjoyment of the film very much hinges on an ability to just go with it.
This is where The Boy, a relatively slow film, may run into problems with some. Though the plot is quite fresh, Menear’s script tends to rely on very familiar tension-building tactics to keep Greta’s dealings with Brahms as believably progressive as possible. Some of these moments are definitely effective in a “slow burn” kind of way (there are echoes of The House of the Devil here at points), but they are not always terribly unique and may wear on viewers early on who just want to see Brahms grab a knife and start hacking away at someone.
For the sake of expectation, it is important to understand that The Boy is not really that kind of film; rather than hack and slash, it seeks to first lure you in with an unsettlingly curious appeal, and then dump a load of insanity on your unsuspecting lap. That being said, the film does ultimately deliver a twist reveal, although it is one that very blatantly recalls a few other films that major horror fans will likely recognize in an instant. While not the most original in formulation, this surprise reveal is executed in a way that once again ups the absurdity and makes for a very nutty finale. Simply put, I thought it was a blast.
Bell is to be commended here for seeing Menear’s script through to full realization in a way that feels cohesive and singular, even if the parts themselves are not always the most unique. While there are some questionable conversation shots here and there and an irksome reliance on a couple of fake-out scares, the director’s visual style feels more refined here than in his previous efforts. Bell captures the menacing nature of the Heelshires’ home with an eye for detail that makes for an equally ornate and chilling environment.
Additionally, his visual handling of Brahms is careful and eerie, sure to leave anyone unsettled who has ever stared too long at a porcelain doll and shuddered. (Guilty!) That being said, Bell does not try to make heavy-handed arthouse fare of his performing object, nor does he try to pass off his film as an overtly serious psychological affair; there is a degree of levity to his approach that maintains a darkly comedic tone throughout, and while it is not blatant, it is certainly discernible — and welcome.
This is what makes The Boy more engaging than it has any right to be in the end: the strangeness of it all. While massively accessible by mainstream horror standards, there is something about the film that feels inexplicably, but enjoyably different. I credit this to the underlying peculiarities in Menear’s script and Bell’s sneakily self-aware directorial approach, despite the flaws inherent in both approaches at times. To its greatest credit, it comes across as a genuine labor of love that truly belongs to its creators, and definitely feels like a step in the right direction for both Bell and Menear. For all of its shortcomings, The Boy ultimately offers a hell of a fun time if you’re willing to play along.
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