Read Mixed User Reviews for The Boy (2016)

6

LeZeeMay 14, 2016

When a nanny meets a boy who is a weird toy.

So this is the other 'The Boy'. The last year film was a thriller-drama, but this is a horror-mystery. It feels like watching a classic horror film, especially because of the English atmosphereWhen a nanny meets a boy who is a weird toy.

So this is the other 'The Boy'. The last year film was a thriller-drama, but this is a horror-mystery. It feels like watching a classic horror film, especially because of the English atmosphere and the house where it was shot. A young American woman named Greta, takes up a nanny job in England to escape from the troubled relationship with her boyfriend. She discovers the boy she has to look out is a doll and later she observes a series of strange events that leads her to find out the truth. The dark secret comes out and that's the film.

A limited cast film. The suspense was the key to the story narrating successfully. So I expected a big twist at the end, but it was a decent one and the overall film was just above average. The atmosphere was creepy, and then it weakened as the development was decelerated going to the second and the final act. Until the twist, it was good and after that a bit disappointing. Not because of the bad conclusion, but comparing it with the rest, especially after the anticipation it created in us, that end part looked so small and simple. Good film to watch for once, but like the most of the horror films, it's fallen short to get my thumbs up.

6/10… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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6

horcrux2007Jan 23, 2016

Not since last year's generic exorcism flick The Vatican Tapes have I had such low expectations for a movie. Its January release date, unflattering trailer, and awful director (William Brent Bell, director of The Devil Inside and Stay Alive)Not since last year's generic exorcism flick The Vatican Tapes have I had such low expectations for a movie. Its January release date, unflattering trailer, and awful director (William Brent Bell, director of The Devil Inside and Stay Alive) seemed to be a recipe for disaster. Maybe it's because my expectations were so low, but The Boy is actually a halfway-decent January thriller. The Boy is about an American woman, Greta, who becomes a nanny for a boy named Brahms whose parents will be away for a few months. What Greta comes to find out is that Brahms is actually a life-sized porcelain doll that is used to replace the real Brahms who died in a fire when he was 8. A list of rules is created for Greta to follow, and increasingly disturbing events start happening when she does not follow those rules. The enormous manor that she resides in calls to mind the mansion from The Innocents, creating an interesting setting for the film. As the film progresses, Greta does begin following the rules and treats the doll like a real boy, and it is pretty creepy seeing how the doll can mentally control her in that way. The plot itself is rather thing, specifically during the second act. There is an abusive husband sub-plot thrown into the film like last year's disappointing Sinister 2, but instead of being ridiculously over-the-top like that movie, the side plot actually does serve some relevance in The Boy and is believable enough. It provides a reason for why Greta becomes so attached to Brahms. The big twist at the end will divide viewers, but I thought it served the rest of the movie well. It is revealed that Brahms actually survived the fire and has been living in the walls ever since the incident, and the parents committed suicide and left Greta for Brahms. The fact that he's always in the walls listening and watching everything creates a creepy atmosphere. The Boy certainly won't blow anyone's minds, but it is a decent thriller that should give you an excuse to go out to the cinema in January.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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4

Rebecca31Mar 19, 2016

Have you longed to see a movie about a possessed doll? Has nothing filled the void since Chucky? Well then you're in luck and your prayers have been answered. Meet Brahms, the doll, oh sorry boy, and his babysitter, Greta. Some of you mayHave you longed to see a movie about a possessed doll? Has nothing filled the void since Chucky? Well then you're in luck and your prayers have been answered. Meet Brahms, the doll, oh sorry boy, and his babysitter, Greta. Some of you may recognise her from The Walking Dead and others will recognise her from nowhere else. You get what you pay for with this movie, some scenes that won't scare you because you've seen them in the trailer, some jump scares and the last half hour of what the hell am I watching? Not the worst horror movie I've seen this month, I'd give it a lukewarm recommendation.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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6

NickLikesMoviesMar 3, 2016

Effectively creepy and greatly acted, "The Boy" is not as clichéd nor as bad as I expected. I found myself really invested in the story and being genuinely spooked by most of the scares. The twist, while surprising, does not make completeEffectively creepy and greatly acted, "The Boy" is not as clichéd nor as bad as I expected. I found myself really invested in the story and being genuinely spooked by most of the scares. The twist, while surprising, does not make complete sense, and it drags a bit, but I found it to be a pretty solid horror film.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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5

PipeCFeb 7, 2016

"The Boy" lies before a striking premise.

"The Boy" is composed of a doll for nothing frightening, a house scary old and an unbalanced performance by Lauren Cohan (Maggie, "The Walking Dead"). Director William Brent Bell offers few moments"The Boy" lies before a striking premise.

"The Boy" is composed of a doll for nothing frightening, a house scary old and an unbalanced performance by Lauren Cohan (Maggie, "The Walking Dead"). Director William Brent Bell offers few moments of horror to satisfy fans of the genre, but the majority of the tension of the film is based on jump-scares and frights common in the world of horror, making us question Could not have been better with a development more coherent?

Lauren Cohan is "Greta" a young American teenager who escapes from a tortuous relationship and takes a baby-sitting job in a village far away from society and looking gloomy, as soon as she accepts the job, should already know that Brahms should receive a kiss goodnight and must take care not to break or a single rule.

After the explanations and others. Greta attempts to understand parents, and with the exception of Malcolm (Rupert Evans), she starts a single transition with the strange doll, where at the end unusually understands and follows the game in a natural and comprehensive way.

This installment, is apparently a prospect of lean mixture between the so scary "Annabelle" (in matters of the doll) and the 2006 film "When a Stranger Calls" (in matters of work babysitting), we often see references of not only these two tapes, also from his previous project "The Devil Inside".

From there, the film takes a couple of unnecessary turns and for fans of the horror the end despite breaking schemes of the genre, it is stupid and irrational, wasting the few merits as until then had managed to raise.

But considering its classification PG -13 and what it could offer us, we all knew that this was not going to make the best horror film of the year but could reach the label " The Best and Original Horror Film of 2016 , to the date". Cohan performance is uneven, the first hour is tortuous and tense and fails her fully know what happens , unfortunately like all horror movies today , the real excitement starts in the last half hour where the film takes a turn I look that even innovative and irreproachable, also feels like a disappointment.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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4

TheQuietGamerJun 26, 2016

It's got some interesting ideas floating around, but fails to capitalize on any of them with scares. It's one of those boring horror flicks where you're actually waiting around for something to happen. While you're left waiting around it toysIt's got some interesting ideas floating around, but fails to capitalize on any of them with scares. It's one of those boring horror flicks where you're actually waiting around for something to happen. While you're left waiting around it toys around with themes of abuse and gives us overly long shots staring at a doll that's appearance lost it's unsettling nature early on.

Despite being one of the more unique and weird mainstream horror movies to come out in a long time, it ultimately still feels overly familiar. Plenty of it's scare tactics are borrowed so that when it finally does get around to trying to freak you out it has no effect. There's a pretty great twist near the end that also ends up being borrowed from another movie. I can't tell you what movie that is though, because it would spoil things. That twist is one of the few things the movie has going for it.

There's just not much happening here. They tried to go for a more personal, dramatic side of things and as a result left out the scares. It also doesn't help that they never manage to actually say anything on the topic of abusive relationships. They really needed to focus on the actual horror.

However just how scary would a haunted/possessed doll actually be? Perhaps a campier route would have made for a better movie. At least then we could have gotten some laughs from the material. Of course you may still get those anyway. The person I watched it with found it very funny. However they also found the thing more watchable than I did.

It is actually very watchable. The question is, why would you? While the genre isn't exactly brimming with haunted doll movies, and The Boy does manage to tower over Annabelle as far as quality goes (Annabelle might have actually been scarier), this just isn't a good horror flick.

It touches on some interesting themes, has a nice twist, and didn't cut out the (totally PG) shower scene like The Forest did, but none of that makes it worth watching. It's downright boring for the majority of it's running time. There are plenty of worse options out there, but you are still better off skipping this babysitting misadventure.

4.8/10… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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4

eagleeyevikingMay 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

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6

youlouzJun 1, 2016

decent thriller with elements of horror.

This movie was very good towards the beginning and creepy, however as the plot edged on the movie began to get over exaggerated and almost weird. I would only recommend for true thriller fans.

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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4

DavidV293Jan 22, 2016

Okay, I have a little to say about this movie since I don't see too much about it. I saw it at night and to me, I found it interesting to see a movie about a doll and let me tell you, the movie is..... As cliche as it can be. It's basicallyOkay, I have a little to say about this movie since I don't see too much about it. I saw it at night and to me, I found it interesting to see a movie about a doll and let me tell you, the movie is..... As cliche as it can be. It's basically Anabelle but Boy edition. I didn't find anything scary, but I did find it hilarious for some reason. Guys if you're looking for a good horror film, skip this and movie on because 'The Boy' doesn't try much and it's kind of stupid.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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5

sepiacloudsMay 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

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5

DirigiblePulpDec 14, 2016

Night Of the Living Dummy: The Movie - Rebooted For Nostalgists

Solid enough premise though surprisingly lacks creepiness. It eschews jump scares (outside of two terrible dream sequences) and follows its own humdrum rhythm. I want to commendNight Of the Living Dummy: The Movie - Rebooted For Nostalgists

Solid enough premise though surprisingly lacks creepiness. It eschews jump scares (outside of two terrible dream sequences) and follows its own humdrum rhythm. I want to commend it for that but it never delivers much more and the story never makes much sense.

The ending avoids the typical expectations here, and while there are mentions of a ripoff of Housebound in some reviews, this isn't really valid here. If this had gone the supernatural route it would have been just like a zillion other films. Damned if you do, damned if you don't; everything has been done. Plus that reveal was a lone bright spot.… Expand