Boy, The

The Boy

Credits
Title:	The Boy
Directed by:	William Brent Bell
Written by:	Stacey Menear
Music by:	Bear McCreary
Cinematography:	Daniel Pearl
Edited by:	Brian Berdan
Production
Distributors:	STX Entertainment Lakeshore Entertainment
Released:	January 22nd, 2016
Rating:	PG-13
Running time:	97 min.
Country:	USA/China
Language:	English
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The Boy is an American and Chinese independent feature film of the psychological thriller genre. It was directed by William Brent Bell with a screenplay written by Stacey Menear. It was produced by STX Entertainment and Lakeshore Entertainment and premiered in the United States on January 22nd, 2016. The film plays on the "stranger in a strange land" trope as Lauren Cohan plays a Montana woman named Greta Evans, who travels to the United Kingdom to become a nanny for Brahms Heelshire. She comes to discover that Brahms is just a porcelain doll that the Heelshires treat as a living person. Nothing awkward about that arrangement, now is there?

Synopsis[]

Greta Evans, an American young woman from Montana, is hired as a nanny by the Heelshire family. Upon arriving at the Heelshire residence in a small town in the United Kingdom, Greta meets Malcolm, the grocery man, and Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire. The elderly couple show Greta a porcelain doll who they call Brahms and treat like their son. Over the next day, the couple coach Greta on taking care of Brahms and their house, leave her a list of rules to follow, then leave for a holiday.

Initially, Greta follows a relatively normal routine, deciding to ignore the rules. She regularly calls her sister Sandy, who tells her that her abusive ex-husband Cole has been trying to find out where she is.

Malcolm stops by to deliver groceries, and Greta finds out that the real Brahms was killed in a fire 20 years ago, on his 8th birthday. Greta accepts Malcolm's offer to show her the town (again, ignoring the rules), and prepares for the date. However, she is lured to the attic by strange noises and locked up.

She is mysteriously let out the next morning, and she later explains to Malcolm what happened, and the two briefly discuss the real Brahms. Strange things begin to happen—a child's sobs are heard in the hallways, phone calls are cut off, and the doll seems to move on its own, vanishing and reappearing elsewhere in the house. After receiving a phone call in which a child's voice urges her to follow the rules, Greta locks herself in her room. She later finds a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which she usually makes for herself) outside her door. Elsewhere, the Heelshires write a goodbye letter to Brahms, then commit suicide by drowning themselves in a lake.

Believing that Brahms' spirit lives within the doll, Greta begins to take the rules more seriously. After Greta demonstrates the doll's ability to move by itself, Malcolm becomes worried. He informs Greta that the real Brahms was friends with a young girl about his age. One day, she was found in the forest with her skull completely crushed. Before the police could question Brahms, the Heelshires' house was burned down with him in it. Malcolm warns Greta not to stay in the house, but Greta, having previously suffered a miscarriage after she was beaten by Cole, feels obligated to care for Brahms.

One evening, an unhinged Cole mysteriously makes his way into the Heelshires' home and announces his intention to bring Greta back home, by force if necessary. Malcolm, who makes an early delivery, decides to stay nearby. As she puts Brahms to sleep, Greta asks Brahms for help. Cole wakes up and sees a message written in blood urging him to leave. Believing it is done by either Greta or Malcolm, Cole angrily snatches the doll from Greta and smashes it.

After he broke the doll, the house begins to shake and the lights start flickering. Then Cole investigates a mirror in the room, without knowing whats going to happen next, the mirror smashes open and knocks Cole to the ground; suddenly a strange voice begins calling Greta's name while revealing a grown man who is wearing a porcelain mask similar to Brahms. It is revealed that Brahms has been alive all along and he was living within the walls of the house. After Brahms slowly came out of the broken mirror, a huge fight between Greta, Malcolm, and Brahms begins to ensue.

During the ensuing fight, Brahms fatally stabs Cole in his neck with a shard of the broken doll, killing him instantly. He then chases Greta and Malcolm throughout the house. They eventually escape to the attic and discover Brahms' room, with a doll on a bed wearing Greta's dress and jewelry. Finding and reading a letter that the Heelshires had left for Brahms, Greta realizes that they have been offering the nannies to him as a form of sacrifice. The pair finds an escape, but Malcolm is knocked out. Brahms threatens to kill Malcolm if Greta leaves, and she returns to save Malcolm.

Greta arms herself with a screwdriver, assures Brahms she will not leave, and orders him to go to bed. He asks for a good night kiss, which she begrudgingly accepts. Brahms then tries to pull Greta in and make out with her, at which point she stabs him in the gut and is thrown against the wall by him, suddenly Brahms grabs a hold of Greta while attempting to choke her, but luckily for Greta she pushes the sharp tip of the screwdriver into Brahm's stomach. After a brief struggle, Brahms stops moving. The film ends as Greta and Malcolm happily leave the Heelshire estate. Later, a hand is shown putting the porcelain doll back together, implying that Brahms is still alive.