I would only suggest “The Boy” to folks that are quite fond of Lauren Cohan and want to see her dip her toes in to the horror genre yet again. It’s honestly the only reason why I bothered with “The Boy.” While director William Brent Bells‘s film has a neat concept, the premise quickly runs out of steam and the writers almost seem to scramble for a way to stay ahead of the audience and come up with a neat twist they simply weren’t expecting. Seriously, I would have preferred they gone down the road I was hoping they would, rather than drop this completely goofy plot twist in the climax that simply made no sense whatsoever.
Cohan plays Greta, a young woman running away from an abusive boyfriend. She travels to another country for a two month job at a centuries old mansion where an elderly couple has tasked her with caring for their son Brahms. Greta is surprised to learn that Brahms is actually a lifelike porcelain doll. Despite her initial surprise, she is given a strict schedule as well as a routine of meals and story time that she must adhere to lest she disturb Brahms. Brahms is a terrifying doll who often times sits with a neutral facial expression that can often change depending on how director Brent Bell lights a scene with the object. That’s about the only interesting element of “The Boy” I quite enjoyed.
Before long Greta begins to realize that she’s not alone in the mansion, and she begins to wonder if Brahms is alive after all. Brahms begins disappearing, shifting in to various positions, and even calls for her, but Greta isn’t quite sure what’s happening. Is there another being inside the house? Is the seemingly charming grocery man she met upon arriving, a maniac? Or is the history she has with abuse and psychological pain coming back to drive Greta insane? She also begins to wonder if Brahms is obsessed with Greta, or if he has purer intent she’s not completely aware of. At times “The Boy” feels like a sharply paced Asian horror film with sheer potential to shock us, and other times it gets so bogged down in dunderheaded plot twists and ridiculous clichés that I was left disappointed.
The film itself feels like giant missed opportunity, in the end and wastes a great plot device of a doll that may or may not be alive and mobile. The clumsy and lazy climax feels so tacked on and out of place from what was, for the most part, a slow boil mystery with tragic elements. In either case, Lauren Cohan is a striking and beautiful woman and strong actress, and she shines in an otherwise utterly silly horror film.