by Whitney Crinklaw, Sports Section Editor
The Boy (2016) is a horror/thriller movie which revolves around a young woman from Montana named Greta (played by Lauren Cohan), and an 8-year-old boy by the name of Brahms (played by Jett Klyne). Other main characters include Malcolm, the delivery boy, (played by Rupert Evans); Mr. Heelshire (played by Jim Norton) and Mrs. Heelshire (played by Diana Hardcastle), the parents of Brahms; and Cole, Greta’s past love (played by Ben Robson). Williams Brent Bell, the director of The Devil Inside (2012), and Stacey Menear the screenwrite, took part in production of The Boy.
The movie is full of suspenseful music, shock, and action. The target audience seems to be young adults and teens. The Boy is rated as PG-13 due to violence and terror, which is typical for any scary movie. However, it may not be the most suitable movie for parents to take their young children to see.
The movie starts with Greta arriving in the United Kingdom, and heading, to the Heelshire household. She agrees to be a nanny for Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire’s 8-year-old son, Brahms. After Greta is given a tour of the house, and her belongings are placed in her room, The Heelshires introduce her to their creepy son. When Greta sees she discovers that he is a porcelain doll.
Mrs. Heelshire tells Greta that Brahms has met a number of nannies, all of whom he has rejected. The Heelshire family then gives Greta a set list of rules, making it known that she must follow them religiously, because Brahms “isn’t a normal child.” Greta, however, chooses not to follow the rules set before her, and goes about her own daily routine. Brahms begins to strike back, in attempt to get Greta’s attention. To the audience’s horror, strange occurrences begin to happen to Greta. She hears child sobs, phone calls being cut off, and the porcelain doll, Brahms, begins moving on his own around the house. It is then that Greta learns Brahms spirit lives on in the doll.
Greta then begins to follow the rules, and take care of Brahms, despite Malcolm’s warning not to. Malcolm tells her that Brahms was playing with a girl around his age, only to be found in the forest with her skull crushed. Greta, however, chooses not to escape, and feels obligated to stay and nurse Brahms.
Enter Cole, Greta’s abusive ex, who breaks into the house one night. Greta comes home to find him, and tells him protectively not to touch Brahms. He doesn’t listen and throws the doll down, breaking it and releasing the spirit. An adult human Brahms, played by James Russell, busts through the wall, from an underground tunnel, where he secretly resides. Brahms then kills Cole by plunging a shard of the broken doll deep within his neck.
Therefore, the movie appeals to the viewer by guiding him/her through the mysterious Heelshire household, and seeing a number of events take place through Greta’s perspective.
The audience is taken on a rollercoaster of twists and turns, all the way up to the end, in which they learn of the whereabouts of Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire, and the forsaken truth of Brahms. It is then that the audience begins to ask, “Will they make it?” As they watch Greta and Malcolm begin their fight to survive the killer doll. Therefore, The Boy is a movie for those who enjoy a good adrenaline rush, a chilling climax, and a twisted resolution.
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