Wordiezett So much average

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

LazySillyDonkey I never write reviews on here (this is the first I've done so it'll be short and sweet) but for any fan of a slow burn psychological thriller you definitely should see this. The story of a young boys transformation into a psychopathic killer is a hell of a good one, and kept my wife and I glued to our seats the whole time. All the actors do their parts well (Morse as the depressed, beaten dad was a highlight for me, although Rainn Wilson and Jared Breeze are both exceptional too) and you can actually feel for the boy as his mind starts to warp and you see why he is the way he is. We were actually meant to watch the 2016 "The Boy" but I'm glad we picked the wrong one because I feel like it was by far the better one. It's a shame that it might be overshadowed and lost

michael-3204 A more descriptive title for this film might be "A Portrait of the Psychopath as a 9-Year-Old Boy," but whatever you call it, it's a creepy, mostly effective examination of profoundly disturbed child Ted (Jared Breeze) trapped in an isolated existence in a run-down, failing motel run by his broken father (David Morse).Death and decay are the overriding preoccupations here, especially young Ted's growing fascination with anything dead and dying, so much so that he starts to engineer the outcomes he's intrigued by with increasingly dire consequences. This isn't a film that necessarily can be spoiled (though I won't give away plot developments) because you can see where it's going almost from the first scene. Director/co-writer Craig William Macneill is not interested in surprises or twists, but in constructing an atmosphere that leads inexorably to the what seems like the inevitable finale. He does so through long, static (or nearly so) shots of scenery and action that is often filmed at a remove -- characters half-hidden by obstructions of various types or framed in the background. He gets a lot of mileage out of the desolate beauty of his location. This was filmed in Colombia, but is set in non- specific rural U.S. roughly two days drive from Florida (that's as specific as it gets). Like Macneill's angelic-looking star, the scenery here could be quite pleasant, peaceful and innocent, but the film instead emphasizes its (and Ted's) more menacing, uncaring qualities. The particular combination of stylistic characteristics he evokes is a bit like Alfred Hitchcock meets Peter Greenaway, minus the lushness.Breeze and Morse carry the lion's share of the film on their very capable shoulders. Rainn Wilson and, somewhat surprisingly, Mike Vogel are also on hand in smaller, not terribly demanding roles. Breeze, especially, is very effective without resorting to showier. idiosyncratic or self-conscious acting that child performers in horror movies are often directed to perform. Breeze's matter-of- fact, naturalistic performance helps sell the extent to which some of what Ted gets up to is what any lonely kid trying to amuse and occupy himself would do, while some is only what a child lacking any empathy could do.This is a pretty dour movie -- there aren't any obvious characters to root for or even be engaged by save Ted and his unfortunate father. There's not much to cheer here, nor much relief from the bleak view of humanity, nature and how they intersect. As such, it's not a fun watch, but it is intriguing and stylish enough to hold viewers' interest, if they approach it in the right frame of mind.

Reno Rangan The entire setting reminds us the movie 'Psycho'. More or less it could have had made a good prequel to that, like the portrayal of Norman Bates' childhood. As an independent film from any previous narrative, it was quite good actually. Inspired by a novel that tells the story of a 9 year old boy who runs a motel with his father in a nowhere. In a lonely place where the customers are very rare, how the boy develops his behavious without social consciousness is what this movie is.Trust me, realism means this movie, but there's always flaws in a small budget film like this. If you always scan for logic, you can't enjoy any movie even in small quantity. Empty your thoughts and get into it, then there's a chance you might like it. I'm not saying it'll become your favourite, but the depiction was so good which was quite similar to the recent Austrian movie 'Goodnight Mommy'.It is not a horror, but a thriller-drama. A terrifying theme, that means terror-horror, thus it called horror. Other than that there's no supernatural or sci-fi things in it. It was a decent movie to me, I felt it was slightly underrated. The turnaround in the storytelling was very good yet predictable stuff. The filmmaker must bring a sequel for it, otherwise I'll be very disappointed.6/10

ronster100 The Boy follows the evolution - or the beginning of it - of a young boy from troubled son of a failed motel manager, to budding serial killer. Cinematography and music score are simply outstanding, as are the performances by the whole cast, and the film carries a tremendous atmosphere of brooding menace, whilst simultaneously capturing the carefree curiosity - and cruelty - of a lonely child. I am saddened, but not surprised, by the lazy, idiotic reviews given by some people on this site - just so you know guys, this is how stories are supposed to be told, unfolding naturally to a great climax rather than throwing five murders into the first few minutes and then having absolutely nothing else to say for the next ninety... and all shot on "found footage", blah blah blah. True kudos to the director; this is a terrific calling card from a real filmmaker that will hopefully start a great career.