The Boy (2016 film)

The Boy

Theatrical release poster
Directed by William Brent Bell
Produced by
Written by Stacey Menear
Starring
Music by Bear McCreary
Cinematography Daniel Pearl
Edited by Brian Berdan
Production
companies
Distributed by STX Entertainment
Release dates
  • January 22, 2016 (2016-01-22)
Running time
 97 minutes[1]
Country
  • United States
  • China
  • Canada
Language English
Budget $10 million[2]
Box office $64 million[3]

The Boy (previously known as The Inhabitant) is a 2016 American-Canadian psychological horror film directed by William Brent Bell and written by Stacey Menear. The film stars Lauren Cohan and Rupert Evans. Filming began on March 10, 2015, in Victoria, British Columbia. The film was released by STX Entertainment on January 22, 2016.

Plot

Greta, a young woman from Montana, escapes an abusive relationship by getting a temporary job as a nanny for the British Heelshire family. Upon arrival to the United Kingdom and the Heelshire residence, Greta introduces herself to Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire before meeting the elderly couple's young son, Brahms.

To Greta's surprise and amusement, Brahms is a porcelain doll, treated like a living child by his "parents." The real Brahms perished in a fire back in 1991, at the age of eight. Mrs. Heelshire, referring to the porcelain doll, states that Brahms has met "many nannies," all of whom were "rejected." Before the Heelshires leave on holiday, they give Greta a list of rules to follow, warning her that Brahms is not a normal child.

Initially, Greta follows a relatively normal routine, choosing to ignore the rules set in place for Brahms. She regularly calls her sister, Sandy, and befriends the Heelshires' flirtatious grocery boy, Malcolm. Soon after Greta's refusal to follow Brahms' rules, strange things begin to happen—a child's sobs are heard in the hallways, phone calls are cut off and Brahms seems to move on his own, vanishing before reappearing in other sections of the house. After Greta is locked in the attic by an unseen force and served a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich outside her door, she begins to believe that Brahms' spirit lives on in the doll. Meanwhile, the Heelshires are seen on a coastline writing a good-bye letter to Brahms and filling their pockets with rocks before committing suicide by drowning.

After Greta demonstrates Brahms' ability to move by himself, Malcolm begins to frequent the house. He informs Greta that the real Brahms was friends with a young girl about his age, who disappeared after a playdate with him in the forest. The girl's body was later found with her skull crushed. Malcolm warns Greta not to stay in the house, but Greta, having previously suffered a miscarriage, feels obligated to care for Brahms and begins to follow his rules. Later in the attic, she finds photos of Brahms with his childhood friend Emily.

One evening, Greta discovers her ex-boyfriend Cole playing snooker in the Heelshires' home. Cole, having tracked Greta, is determined to bring her home, which she refuses to do, making him angry. He becomes even more angered by the appearance of a message written in blood, presuming that Greta wrote it to scare him away. After a brief argument with Greta and Malcolm, Cole loses his temper and smashes the porcelain Brahms; immediately after, the house begins to shake. An adult human Brahms crawls through a shattered mirror, wearing a mask identical to the doll's face.

Brahms immediately attacks the group, stabbing Cole to death with the shards of the broken porcelain and chasing Greta and Malcolm throughout the house. They eventually escape to the attic where she discovers a room with a mannequin wearing her dress and jewelry. Greta realizes that Brahms has been alive all along, moving the porcelain doll through the house, stealing her possessions, and watching her every move. The Heelshires, presumably held hostage by their son, offered Greta (and the nannies before her) as a form of sacrifice to Brahms for "his keeping". Initially, Greta flees the house at Malcolm's urging, but feels guilty for abandoning him and returns.

Greta uses Brahms' own rules against him when he finds her, demanding that he goes to sleep. After Brahms enters his bed, he tries to pull Greta in for his "good night kiss". As she leans in, Greta stabs him in the stomach with a letter opener, but this does not kill him. Brahms retaliates by throwing her against a wall then strangling her, Greta then reaches down to the letter opener (still stuck in his stomach) and twists it in deep causing him to drop her and presumably die. She then escapes, rescuing Malcolm and leaving the Heelshire estate gate open behind her.

The film cuts to a scene of the open gate and then to a hand putting the porcelain doll back together, implying that Brahms is still alive. The film ends with a final glimpse of the repaired doll's eyes.

Cast

Production

Development

On July 14, 2014, it was announced that The Devil Inside's director William Brent Bell was set to direct a supernatural thriller, The Inhabitant, which Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi would produce through Lakeshore Entertainment, along with Roy Lee, Matt Berenson, Jim Wedaa, through Vertigo Entertainment.[6] The script was written by Stacey Menear.[6] On January 23, 2015, Lauren Cohan signed on to star for the lead role in the film, which by then had been retitled The Boy.[4] On March 11, 2015, more cast was announced, which included Jim Norton, Diana Hardcastle, Ben Robson, Rupert Evans, and James Russell.[5]

Filming

On March 10, 2015, principal photography on The Boy officially begun in Victoria, British Columbia, at Craigdarroch Castle, announced by the studios.[7]

Release

On February 25, 2015, STX Entertainment acquired the US rights to the film and set the film for a February 5, 2016 release, but in March 2015 the film was moved up to January 22, 2016.[8][9] The official trailer was released on October 14, 2015.[10]

Reception

Box office

As of April 10, 2016, The Boy has grossed $35.8 million in North America and $26.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $62.4 million, against a budget of $10 million.[3]

The film was released in North America on January 22, 2016, alongside Dirty Grandpa and The 5th Wave. The film was projected to gross $10–13 million from 2,671 theaters in its opening weekend.[11] The film made $3.9 million on its first day and $10.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing 5th at the box office.[12]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 29%, based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10.[13] Metacritic gives the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[12] Joe Leydon criticised the average story line in Variety.com and commented that "Despite game efforts by the cast, this tepid horror opus is never scary enough to overcome its silly premise"[15] A reviewer for RogerEbert.com wrote that a "moody atmosphere and committed performances can’t conceal the fact that this is one dumb flick."[16]

References

  1. ↑ "THE BOY (15)". British Board of Film Classification. February 9, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Can ‘The Revenant’ Beat Back 3 Newcomers to Finally Top Box Office?". TheWrap.com.
  3. 1 2 "The Boy (2016)". The Numbers. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Kit, Borys (January 23, 2015). "'Walking Dead' Star to Headline Horror Film 'The Boy' (Exclusive)". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ford, Rebecca (March 11, 2015). "Lakeshore, STX Entertainment's Horror Film 'The Boy' Sets Cast (Exclusive)". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Busch, Anita (July 14, 2014). "‘Devil Inside’ Helmer William Brent Bell Set To Direct ‘The Inhabitant’". deadline.com. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ Lesnick, Silas (March 10, 2015). "Production Begins on The Boy, Starring Lauren Cohan". comingsoon.net. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  8. ↑ Lang, Brent (February 25, 2015). "STX Entertainment Dates Films With Matthew McConaughey, Julia Roberts, Jason Blum". variety.com. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ "STX Entertainment will now release THE BOY on January 22, 2016". twitter.com. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  10. ↑ Anita Busch, "‘The Boy’ Horror Trailer From STX & Lakeshore Nears 5 Million Views," Deadline.com, October 22, 2015.release date UK 19 Feb 2016
  11. ↑ "'Revenant' Hunts #1 Amid Newcomers, '5th Wave', 'The Boy' and 'Dirty Grandpa'". boxofficemojo.com.
  12. 1 2 "‘The Revenant’ No. 1, ‘Ride Along’ Skids On Ice". deadline.com.
  13. ↑ "The Boy (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  14. ↑ "The Boy reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  15. ↑ Leydon, Joe. "‘The Boy’ Review: A Tepid Horror Movie". Variety.com.
  16. ↑ Lemire, Christy (22 January 2016). "The Boy".

External links

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