Sunday, January 24, 2016

The Boy

Greta (Lauren Cohan) is an American who has been hired as a nanny in the UK.  She arrives to an empty house and then wanders the halls.  It is a very stately mansion and there is a painting of the family.  When we meet Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire, they are at least 20 years older than they were in said painting.  Mr. Heelshire is friendly but his wife is very particular.  Then she meets Brahms, a doll.  Greta laughs, thinking this is some joke but quickly realizes they are absolutely serious.  Mrs. Heelshire offers a list of rules that must be followed or Brahms can become difficult.  With that, the Heelshires leave on holiday.  However, Mrs. Heelshire whispers in her ear that she is sorry.
 
No sooner have the Heelshires left than Greta leaves the doll in a chair and tosses a blanket over it because it 'creeps her out.'  Later, she discovers the blanket on the floor while Brahms is still sitting where she left him.  More spooky incidents follow.  She finally asks Malcolm (Rupert Evans) about Brahms.  It turns out that Brahms had died in a fire on this 8th birthday in 1991 and he had been viewed as an 'odd' child.  Is the doll just a host for young Brahms' ghost?  If so, is he just a lonely child wanting attention or is he a wicked spirit bent on tormenting the living?
 
The movie is much better than I expected it to be.  There are several odd rules for the care of the doll that eventually make sense.  Good fun and recommended.

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