tw: mentions of suicide, physical violence, allusions to abuse
The first question we need to ask ourselves is why are dolls so prevalent in horror movies? What is it about this non-human puppet that manages to nuzzle its way into our human psyche? In the case of The Boy (2016, now on Netflix), starring Lauren Cohen (Greta) and James Russell (Brahms), a doll is, kind of, the main character. But the overall shallow plot, and the wild character choices really cemented The Boy as a horror movie that peaks anxiety once or twice, but can really be laughed at the whole way through.
In short, The Boy is about an American woman named Greta who takes up a job nannying in the middle of nowhere in Britain in order to escape her abusive ex Cole (Ben Robson). The house has no neighbors or wifi, and she’s immediately creeped by it, but chooses to stay at the advice of her friend. She learns from Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire (Jim Norton and Diana Hardcastle) that the “boy” she’s babysitting is actually a doll named Brahms. After going through the strict daily schedule with her, including things like reading loud and clear and putting leftover food in a freezer instead of throwing it away, the Heelshires go on vacation. After the Heelshires leave, the only other person Greta sees is Malcolm, a grocery delivery man who she takes a liking to, and who informs her that Brahms is a representation of the Heelshires real son, who supposedly murdered a girl in his youth and then died in a house fire. Yikes. This is less important, but it’s worth noting that Malcolm doesn’t bring many groceries to Greta, and never mentions delivering to anyone else; I don’t know where in Britain they are, but clearly living is cheap. Watch out InstaCart, Malcolm is coming for your brand. The two plan on a date, but weird things start happening that lead to Greta being knocked out in the attic, just in a towel because all of her clothes are gone, for 8 hours. The next morning she wakes up, perfectly fine after being out for an entire night and not in any need of medical attention, and decides to start taking Brahms’ rules more seriously. In doing so she forms a sweet connection with the doll and is able to settle in. Unfortunately, just as this is happening we see the Heelshires commit double suicide together after writing a letter back home. Greta is trapped and she doesn’t even know it. Through more ominous events, Greta is able to prove to Malcolm that Brahms is alive, or that something else is in the house. The two continue their lives until Cole turns up in the house, demanding to bring Greta home. A fight ensues, the doll breaks, the real, 30-year old Brahms comes out of the wall and chases everyone around, killing Cole and trying to kill Malcolm. Greta escapes but comes back to save Malcolm and stabs Brahms to do it. The two drive off into the night, and we see a pair of hands putting the Brahms doll— which wasn’t just cracked, but smashed into literal dust— back together. The end.
This plot summary is way too long; every elementary school teacher I had would be gravely disappointed. But here’s where things get fun. None of the logistics of the film are explained, and what is doesn’t add up. Cole is a contractor, but his financial situation is unstable. How did he get the money for an immediate, overnight flight to the UK? Did he rent a car? How did he not crash said car driving with his opposite side? In that same vein, this movie follows typical genre conventions, but tries to subvert them just enough to make them look new. Greta enters the house, after being told by her driver that no one is home, but still walks around and calls out to people. The only difference is that it’s daytime when this happens, and so there’s not the ominous dark lighting to build suspense. She’s a gal walking around a huge mansion looking into perfectly clean and bright bedrooms. Greta’s friend manages to call her via a landline, the same way that the two of us do all the time, meaning that there has to be some service at the house.
Working backwards, I don’t know if The Boy was trying to set up a sequel, but that’s pretty much impossible since all the realities that make the plot possible have been destroyed. It seems like the director chose to include the scene of Brahms rebuilding the doll to create a feeling of suspense, but it’s really unnecessary. The plot wrapped itself up nicely and didn’t leave room for a sequel, so why not let dogs lie and let the protagonists drive off into safety? The only thing this scene was effective for was giving us a bit more insight into Brahms’ character, but, again, it’s the end of the movie. These nuances could have been established earlier in the production.
The overarching theme of this movie is the horrors of family. The Heelshires went to such lengths to protect their son, creating a monster all the while. Arguably, the Heelshires set their own house on fire in order to protect their son. Not necessarily to maim their son but to make everyone think he’s dead— which they don’t have any neighbors so he probably could’ve vibed after a year or so once things settled and just went back to his hidey-hole when people came. But I think his parents were also disgusted with him so they just made him stay behind the wall. Perhaps all parties were trying the best, but they all ended up with major trauma which is really the hallmark of any real family right? The pitfall comes because we don’t know anyone’s true motivations besides Greta, Cole, and Malcolm. Not knowing why the Heelshires did what they did, why they’re okay with it, the family history that led to this situation all leave gaps that would elevate this movie if they were filled in.
The next problem with this movie is one a lot of horror movies have: the lighting during some scenes is really dark. Now, dark lighting does work to set the mood, but it’s more effective when shadows and highlights and details are still visible. This was the typical wash of blues and grays, and it didn’t do anything for us. The rest of the lighting was fine, but it was nothing new. I’m not saying they needed to reinvent the wheel, but they followed genre conventions at pretty much every turn (old creepy house, classical music, simple tonal lighting) and it was boring! That’s the main thing with this movie. It’s okay, somewhat interesting, but at its core is just an amalgamation of typical plot points and design concepts except this time they made it british. The across-the-pond factor didn’t work as well as it did with The Office.
The last part is the character of Greta. Malcolm is cool, really the main draw of this whole thing, except for the gross gum thing at the top, but I digress. Greta is okay. Lauren walks the tightrope of being unhinged but hopeful, terrified and exhausted, well. But her choices follow the “I am acting the opposite of how anyone would” path, and also her relationship with Brahms isn’t super developed in the mid-stage. For example, we understand the shift happens after she breaks down and then he gives her a sandwich, but then we only see a few scenes of her following the rules and building their relationship. This is the fault of two factors: small cast, and obsession. Brahms and Greta have a fair amount of scenes alone, which means she isn’t sharing most of her thoughts out loud to someone because she doesn’t need to, but her thoughts aren’t clearly illustrated enough physically that the audience can understand them without a vocal cue. Secondly, Brahms is obsessed with Greta. We don’t know why, necessarily, and we don’t know how they found her, or if he heard the conversation about her lost child because that happened outside. Maybe the lack of detailed relationship focus was because it didn’t matter to Brahms— he had her, and that coral dress, and that’s all that matters. From a first watch, though, the overarching theme and concept the director had to explain these choices isn’t clear, so there’s no way to suspend disbelief and really feel like you aren’t watching a movie. It clearly exists in a plane above reality, which could be used to their advantage, but The Boy is really just another one of the boys. Same peach polo and khaki shorts, same amount of mutual disappointment when he opens his mouth, still successful because it’s predictable and well-known.
Alignment: Lawful Evil.
Alignment Reviews 