Texan Mosaic

by: NICOLE TRUGILLO/Editor-in-Chief

A porcelain doll sits in a chair while an elderly couple introduces it as their son.

Who wouldn’t find that strange?

“The Boy” is a horror film that centers on a woman named Greta (Lauren Cohan) who has escaped an abusive relationship and flees to the United Kingdom to be a nanny for the Heelshire family.

Upon her arrival, she meets the Heelshire’s grocery boy, Malcolm (Rupert Evans), and he automatically takes a liking to her. Mr. Heelshire (Jim Norton) and Mrs. Heelshire (Diana Hardcastle) meet Greta for the first time and want to introduce her to their son, Brahms.

Mrs. Heelshire takes Greta to the living room, and Mr. Heelshire is whispering to Brahms. The Heelshires present their son to Greta. Greta bursts into laughter before suddenly trying to stop herself. Greta is confused, because Brahms is a porcelain doll. Malcolm comes and saves the day as he starts talking to Brahms, which eases the tension off Greta.

Mrs. Heelshire tells Greta that Brahms has rejected many nannies, but Brahms has told her that he really likes Greta.

Greta soon finds out that the Heelshires aren’t pulling a prank, as they treat the porcelain doll like their son. Later in the film, Malcolm tells Greta what really happened to their son, Brahms. Malcolm tells Greta that when Brahms was 8-years-old, he perished in a fire and later the doll showed up out of nowhere.

As the days go on, Mrs. Heelshire explains to Greta the rules of how to take care of Brahms. The set of rules go from reading to him, feeding him, waking him up in the morning, and putting him to sleep. Greta finds this weird, but she tries to obey the rules for the Heelshires.

When the Heelshires leave for a couple of weeks, it’s up to Greta to take care of Brahms on her own. Mrs. Heelshire whispers to Greta, “I’m so sorry,” and leaves without Greta asking her about her comment.

Greta decides she has her own set of rules, which consist of not treating Brahms like a child. She abandons him because she is freaked out by the sight of him. Soon, strange things begin to happen. The phone lines are cut off. Greta hears a child sobbing, and she notices that Brahms moves on his own.

After getting trapped in the attic overnight, she tells Malcolm that she believes that Brahms’ spirit is alive in the doll. She proves to Malcolm that Brahms does move on his own, which makes Greta treat Brahms like a real child because she knows what it’s like to lose a child (she had a miscarriage).

Later in the film, something happens to the Heelshires and somehow Greta’s ex-boyfriend, Cole (Ben Robson), finds Greta. After being angered, blaming Greta for a message that was written in blood and fighting with Malcolm, Brahms eventually kills Cole. But it’s not what it seems.

I’m not going to go further into detail, because the ending was the best part of this movie. Throughout the movie, I was set on “The Boy” being this cliché spirit, haunting, doll horror movie. But it was so much more than that. I was wrong. This movie surprised me. The ending surprised me.

“The Boy” was released on Jan 22. This film was more of a thriller and suspenseful. The storyline was great, but the film could have been more terrifying. I was still missing that horror part that pushes me over the edge. But that’s OK, because the director of the movie, William Bell, delivered a good film, and the writer, Stacey Menear, came up with a good storyline and an amazing ending.

I was disappointed, but only because it wasn’t a horror movie. I was surprised and more than satisfied because the ending was great.

For a surprising and great ending, I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.