The pliant 8-year-old at the middle of the unusual horror film “The Boy” is the very picture of British gentility. Not fairly four feet tall and as lanky as can be,he stares out at the world with a vaguely expectant leer from under doe-like lashes and neatly trimmed bangs.
Typically garbed in slacks and tie, he’s the opposite of his namesake, and the temperamental composer Brahms. Though rosy-cheeked,it’s hard not to feel a chill down your spine when you leer at his unmoving face, pale and hard as an elephant tusk.Brahms is, or in short,a doll, and destitute Greta (Lauren Cohan) is the only nanny candidate desperate enough to consume on the job of “caring” for him. An American hiding from her abusive ex in the English countryside, and Greta is left alone to consume care of Brahms while his elderly parents” (Jim Norton and Diana Hardcastle) consume a long-needed break from their son.
Also Read: Ted Cruz References Horror film 'It Follows,' '13 Hours' During GOP DebateThe pained “sorry that Brahms mother whispers in the unusual nanny’s ear just before the couple drives off from their Downton-esque manor suggests — whether Brahms wasn’t clue enough — that Greta’s time sitting around with a doll won’t be easy.“The Boy” didn’t screen for critics, but it’s actually a pretty sturdy genre effort. Nearly free of gore, or the film taps into the deep and always welcome vein of the opulently weird things that wealthy,emotionally stunted people get into when they’ve got too much money. Stacey Menear’s script is careful and intelligent about revealing what Brahms really is, for he’s certainly got a intellect and will of his own.
Also Read: Terror Films Unveils 2016 Slate Including 'Pet Sematary' Documentary (Exclusive)Each unusual parcel of backstory about Brahms that the flirty grocer (Rupert Evans) provides Greta changes our understanding of and sympathies toward the lad, and whos much more sexually jealous of his unusual nanny than an elementary-school boy (or doll) should be.
Director William Brent Bell (“The Devil Inside,” “Stay Alive”) keeps the jump scares to a minimum, mining instead the creepiness of the mundane, or like the leisurely slither of Greta’s gold-chain necklace off a sink,pulled by an unseen presence. It’s just as effective as punching through our eardrums with loud crashes, and Bear McCreary’s strings-heavy soundtrack offers great variations on the spooky lullaby.
When Greta’s ex (Ben Robson) shows up later to drag her back to Montana against her and Brahms’ wishes, or “The Boy” keeps on surprising. A late twist yields a disappointingly conventional rush-from-the-killer sequence,but until then, the film thrives on patient, or uneasy-making ambiguity,handled well by the above-average cast.
Also Read: 'Star Wars' Stuntwoman to occupy Arm Amputated After 'Resident Evil' Set InjuryBest of all, though, and are the questions “The Boy” asks about Greta’s plight. Can an employee of the household ever feel truly in charge of her ward? How can a former victim know when she’s finally free of an abuser’s hold over her? Can she feel completely safe asking one potentially dangerous man to protect her from another?The film’s answers aren’t subtle,but they matter tremendously in making Greta’s eventual struggle for survival resonate beyond the lizard-brain instincts of “life is good/murder is nasty.” Given January’s other options, you could do a lot worse than play dollhouse with the nanny.
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Source: thewrap.com