Taglines: Every child needs to be loved.
Greta (Lauren Cohan), a young woman from Montana, escapes an abusive relationship by getting a temporary job as a nanny for the British Heelshire family. Upon arrival to the United Kingdom and the Heelshire residence, Greta introduces herself to Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire (Norton and Hardcastle) before meeting the elderly couple’s young son, Brahms.
To Greta’s surprise and amusement, Brahms is a porcelain doll, treated like a living child by his “parents.” The real Brahms perished in a fire back in 1991, at the age of eight. Mrs. Heelshire, referring to the porcelain doll, states that Brahms has met “many nannies,” all of whom were “rejected.” Before the Heelshires leave on holiday, they give Greta a list of rules to follow, warning that Brahms is not a normal child.
Initially, Greta follows a relatively normal routine, choosing to ignore the rules set in place for Brahms. She regularly calls her sister, Sandy, and befriends the Heelshire’s flirtatious grocery boy, Malcolm (Evans). Soon after Greta’s refusal to follow Brahms’ rules, strange things begin to happen–a child’s sobs are heard in the hallways, phone calls are cut off and Brahms seems to move on his own, vanishing before reappearing in other sections of the house.
After Greta is locked in the attic by an unseen force and served a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich outside her door, she begins to believe that Brahms’ spirit lives on in the doll. Meanwhile, the Heelshires are seen on a coastline writing a good-bye letter to Brahms and filling their pockets with rocks before committing suicide by drowning.
After Greta demonstrates Brahms’ ability to move by himself, Malcolm begins to frequent the house. He informs Greta that the real Brahms was friends with a young girl about his age, who disappeared after a playdate with him in the forest. The girl’s body was later found with her skull crushed. Malcolm warns Greta not to stay in the house, but Greta, having previously suffered a miscarriage, feels obligated to care for Brahms and begins to follow his rules.
One evening, Greta discovers her ex-boyfriend Cole (Robson) playing pool in the Heelshire’s home. Cole, having tracked Greta, is determined to bring her home. He becomes angered by the appearance of a message written in blood, presuming that Greta wrote it to scare him away. After a brief fight with Greta and Malcolm, Cole destroys the porcelain Brahms, and the house begins to shake. An adult human Brahms crawls through a shattered mirror, wearing a mask identical to the doll’s face.
The Boy (previously known as The Inhabitant) is a 2016 horror film directed by William Brent Bell and written by Stacey Menear. The film stars Lauren Cohan and Rupert Evans. Filming began on March 10, 2015, in Victoria, British Columbia. The film was released by STXfilms on January 22, 2016. It is an international co-production between China and the United States.
On February 25, 2015, STX Entertainment acquired the US rights to the film and set the film for a February 5, 2016 release, but in March 2015 the film was moved up to January 22, 2016. The film was released in the United States on January 22, 2016, alongside Dirty Grandpa and The 5th Wave, and was projected to gross $10–13 million from 2,671 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $3.9 million on its first day and $10.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing 5th at the box office.[13] The Boy grossed $35.8 million in the US and Canada and $26.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $62.4 million against a budget of $10 million.
The Boy
Directed by: William Brent Bell
Starring: Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, Ben Robson, Diana Hardcastle, Jim Norton, Jett Klyne, James Russell
Screenplay by: Stacey Menear
Production Design by: John Willett
Cinematography by: Daniel Pearl
Film Editing by: Brian Berdan
Costume Design by: Jori Woodman
Set Decoration by: Terry Lewis
Adt Direction by: James Steuartx
Music by: Bear McCreary
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence and terror, and for some thematic material.
Studio: STX Entertainment
Release Date: January 22, 2016
Visits: 60
