The Boy (2016)

Director: William Brent Bell

Starring: Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, James Russell

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.

Congratulations to director William Brent Bell for creating an atmospheric horror thriller. ‘The Boy’ certainly was off to a mysterious start – a mystery that would linger well past the second act.

The acting is very good, especially Lauren Cohan as the nanny, Greta. Her facial expressions speak volumes – so much so that she doesn’t even have to utter a single word for us to know her feelings or thoughts. Greta also has a very interesting back story, which is so appropriate given her circumstances.

Bloody hell, the jump scares are highly effective and some moments really gave me the jitters. The chaos unfolds in a subtle manner, with a constant foreboding atmosphere. Having seen our share of doll movies, I’m sure the audience expected the doll to jump up at any moment to go on a killing frenzy. The film manages to remain scary without blood, guts and gore and killing after killing. This is a very unique film. The photography and editing is also very good, and I loved the setting in the stunning house.

The final act steered the film in a completely different direction than what I was expecting. To a certain extent it removed much of the creepiness of the doll, and left many events unexplained. Personally I think I would have preferred a different ending, as we have actually seen this sort of development in previous films. I was hoping for something just as unique as the film was until that point. Nevertheless, this is still a very good film, and very entertaining at that.

‘The Boy’ earned $74 million on a $10 million budget. It also received nominations for Best Film and Best Actress.

Would I watch it again? Yes.