The Boy Review: This ain't Chucky

The Boy is a psychological horror movie about a young American woman who moves to a remote area in the United Kingdom to take care of a child only to discover that the elderly parents are caring for a doll as their deceased child. They parents go on holiday leaving the woman alone with a doll she increasingly fears might actually be alive.

What starts off as a simply silly idea is actually very well handled for the first act of the film’s running time and the movie pulls off a very creepy and off-setting vibe with strong visuals and a “less is more” attitude.

Lauren Cohan actually does a fantastic job opposite her porcelain costar and the rest of the acting is consistently top notch. Also it is kind of amusing to see Lauren Cohan pretending to be American surrounded by all these Brits.

The movie does get several scares despite the fact that you never see the doll move. This is actually a good decision in my opinion because I’ve always been a proponent of the idea that what you don’t see is scarier than what you do.

The problems with this movie develop toward the end. The early film does an outstanding job of developing a creepy atmosphere and keeping you wondering what’s really going on. It focuses on a young woman left alone in a remote house with a doll that may or may not be alive.

The middle of the film staggers because Cohan’s character acquires a love interest who is around too much. He does a fine job as an actor but the film needed more isolation.

The 3rd act of the film screws the pooch completely and gives us a payoff too cliche and ridiculous to be taken seriously, and that’s really saying something about a movie that started off with a living doll trope. It’s actually sad because the first act was executed extremely well but the ending will be mostly what you remember about the film which reduces this feature to a pretty generic fright flick.

5/10