The Boy

Name: The Boy
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Released: January 22, 2016
Duration: 97 min
Rating: 42
Cast: Ben Robson, Diana Hardcastle, James Russell, Jim Norton, Lauren Cohan

2016

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 293 Ratings

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7.2

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 293 Ratings

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The Boy

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Movie Details & Credits

STX Entertainment | Release Date: January 22, 2016 | PG-13

Starring: Ben Robson, Diana Hardcastle, James Russell, Jim Norton, Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans

Summary: Greta is a young American woman who takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village, only to discover 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 prior. After violating a list of strict rules, a series of disturbing andGreta is a young American woman who takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village, only to discover 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 prior. After violating a list of strict rules, a series of disturbing and inexplicable events bring Greta’s worst nightmare to life, leading her to believe that the doll is actually alive. [STX Entertainment]… Expand

Director: William Brent Bell

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Horror

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 97 min

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Critic Reviews

Inkoo Kang

Jan 22, 2016

Nearly free of gore, the film taps into the deep and always welcome vein of the opulently bizarre things that rich, emotionally stunted people get into when they’ve got too much money. Stacey Menear’s script is careful and clever about revealing what Brahms really is, for he’s certainly got a mind and will of his own. Read full review

Neil Genzlinger

Jan 23, 2016

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. Read full review

Christian Holub

Jan 27, 2016

The Boy, from director William Brent Bell, aims to set itself squarely in the fictional canon of "Chucky" and its brethren, but it ends up trying to do so much that it forgets to scare us. Read full review

Joe Leydon

Jan 21, 2016

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...and, as a result, is more likely to elicit laughs and rude remarks rather than screams and rooting interest. Read full review

Marc Savlov

Jan 27, 2016

The Boy’s overriding concern is telegraphed enough in advance that fans of Gothic suspense will almost certainly have guessed it 45 minutes in. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Christy Lemire

Jan 23, 2016

It’s more rote than revelatory, and the possibility of a sequel in the final shot plays more like a threat than a promise. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Jan 27, 2016

Is it a spoiler to refer to the coda of thriller The Boy as the clumsiest cop out in recent horror history? Read full review

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User Reviews

lelefoxx00

Jan 30, 2016

A fantastic thriller in every way. It starts off very interesting and only gets more and more interesting along the way. Lauren Cohen is fantastic and gives a wonderful performance. It keeps it's creepy fill throughout and doesn't rely on cheap jump scares to carry the film. The plot twistA fantastic thriller in every way. It starts off very interesting and only gets more and more interesting along the way. Lauren Cohen is fantastic and gives a wonderful performance. It keeps it's creepy fill throughout and doesn't rely on cheap jump scares to carry the film. The plot twist is genius and truly creeps up on you. You do not see it coming. I had high hopes for this movie and was not disappointed.… Expand

1 of 7 users found this helpful16

DotTheEyes

Jan 22, 2016

To escape an abusive relationship, Greta (Lauren Cohan) moves from America to rural England, finding a position as a caregiver for a wealthy couple's child. Only after she is at their large manor do they reveal the quote-unquote child, Brahms, is in fact a life-sized porcelain doll, aTo escape an abusive relationship, Greta (Lauren Cohan) moves from America to rural England, finding a position as a caregiver for a wealthy couple's child. Only after she is at their large manor do they reveal the quote-unquote child, Brahms, is in fact a life-sized porcelain doll, a representation of the troubled son they lost in a fire 20 years ago. Greta, left alone when the husband and wife go on holiday, is instructed to adhere to a strict routine, including feeding, playing music for, and reading stories to her charge, whom she slowly begins to suspect may be more than just a pacifying toy for her elderly and grieving employers. This is a small, but creepy, entertaining, and well-told mystery with extremely handsome production design and a sympathetic lead performance by Cohan. William Brent Bell is a poorly regarded director due to the mediocre video-game slasher Stay Alive and the godawful found-footage film The Devil Inside, but in a surprise twist, he proves rather adept at emulating the this-old-house atmosphere and slowly burning suspense of a film such as The Changeling.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

Patsy11

Aug 17, 2023

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0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ninosan

Aug 6, 2016

It's a movie with a good idea, but a very "meh" execution.
It's not much of a horror movie, as the scary parts are very scarce, but the drama and ambiance makes the movie more of an atmospheric experience. You can really feel the loneliness and isolation of the main character, and the wayIt's a movie with a good idea, but a very "meh" execution.
It's not much of a horror movie, as the scary parts are very scarce, but the drama and ambiance makes the movie more of an atmospheric experience. You can really feel the loneliness and isolation of the main character, and the way she changes her behavior trough the movie is rather interesting and nice to watch.
The ending is good, but the plot twist is quite predictable, and might have been better to just keep the original plot.
Watch it if you are looking for a movie that will most likely not make you scared before bed, but might make you look twice at creepy dolls.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

sepiaclouds

May 28, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I like horror movies, I really do. And I tried so,so hard to like this movie. But I just couldn't. I can congratulate it on having nearly no gore (a completely boring and irrelevant character gets stabbed in the neck by a piece of ceramic, and that is it, no joke), and trying to focus on the psychological aspect of horror, one of the reasons I enjoyed 'The Babadook' so much, however it didn't do it nearly as well as 'The Babadook'. There were a couple of FNAF level jumpscares and, I will admit, some very shady scenes, notably the ones in which Brahms head suddenly turns as Greta tries to move him, and when his parents drown themselves. Now, if the rest of the film had done that, I probably would have enjoyed it A LOT more, but it didn't . So my score is a 5: 5 for interesting ideas (I thought the plot twist was actually fairly good), but I can't give it any more than that because of how laughably it was performed.

The entire horror genre is so saturated now that it's kinda hard to come up with something original. But you tried William, you tried.

So, William Brent Bell's other AAA film (or at least an attempt on Triple A), 'The Devil Inside' (I haven't seen it) is rated worse than this piece of crap on ImDB. So at least he improved... by 1.2 stars.

In short, forget about this movie and everything I said and go watch Child's Play.… Expand

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

eagleeyeviking

May 16, 2016

The Boy has promise and is tense but doesn't fulfill it with less scares, average characters, and a poor final twist that relies more on action than horror.

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

Hugi09

Aug 4, 2019

C quoi ça??? C une arnaque totale !!!! Un des pires films d’horreur de tout les temps ????

0 of 8 users found this helpful08

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98	#98 Most Discussed Movie of 2016
81	#81 Most Shared Movie of 2016