Plot: After a family moves into the Heelshire Mansion, their young son soon makes friends with a lifelike doll called Brahms – Brahms: The Boy 2
Director – William Brent Bell
Starring: Katie Holmes, Owain Yeomans, Christopher Convery, Ralph Ineson
Released: February 2020
I couldn’t help but be intrigued when I heard they were making a sequel to The Boy, a film that I enjoyed but didn’t think there was anything else they could do with the story, however with the original director and writer returning and introducing the usually solid Katie Holmes, I was more than willing to give it a go, after all, it couldn’t possibly be worse than the other horror films that have come out in 2020.
After watching the film, it’s interesting to see how low the film has been scored by other critics, The reason being that I found The Boy 2 rather enjoyable, not too cliched and due to the deepening of the lore surrounding the doll actually makes the first film even more interesting. In fact, the history surrounding the doll actually made me want them to make more films in the franchise that go back in time and show us some of these stories.
I’m going to avoid spoilers, bu the reason for the family moving out of London and into the countryside was an aspect that I found worked quite well and the trauma show by both Liza (Holmes) and Jude (Convery) gave the film extra layers, though I would say Bell might have overdone it with the dream sequences and early jump-scares.
As the only non-British member of the cast, Holmes had a good performance, it’s interesting to see how matured her performances have become and when emotion needed to be injected, she hit all the marks. Yeoman was solid as the somewhat cliche non-believing parent. But for me, it was Convery who really stole the show, especially given that for the most part he was tasked with using just facial expressions to convey how he was feeling.
One of the film’s weak points is the changes made to the doll and how he is shown on screen. In the first film it was hinted at that he was moving, but never seen on screen, here we see him move and I feel it takes something away from the film as you’re no longer in the same position as the characters and I could have done without the CGI reveal at the end.
Do I think this is a great film? No, but I think it attempted to do something different and mostly it succeeded. I enjoyed the performances and the level of depth that each character was given. The backstory doesn’t violate the first film, and in fact, improves it. I would say that Brahms: The Boy 2 was enjoyable enough that it could be watched without seeing the first film and although the bar hasn’t been set very high, be the one of the better horror released of this year.
If you liked – Dead Silence, Child’s Play, Annabelle Comes Home
Nope. No. NoNoNoNoNoNo. NOOOOOOOO. I’m sure this is a great movie for horror lovers, but I don’t do scary dolls. LOL
i am such a scardy-cat so this is not my cup of tea. but i do like katie holmes and it’s nice to hear she makes the most of her role.
I don’t like dolls but sometimes you need to embrace your fears haha. I will give it a chance, It has been a hard time finding what to watch during the lockdown so lets try some horror. Thank you for the review,
Why is this making me so excited??? I love watching horror movies. I need to watch this!!!
Honestly, just LOOKING AT THAT DOLL CREEPS ME OUT! My skin literally crawled! hahahaahha! I would honestly NEVER see this movie – but nice to see Katie Holmes in a movie again.
This looks so creepy, I will not be watching – haha! Sounds like a good one for those who enjoy horrors. Lovely to see Katie Holmes though.
Ashlee | ashleemoyo.com
I’m not a horror fan!!! I will have to wait for the lockdown to get over, so that I can call for my friends over my place. Might watch then!!! Scary!!!
this looks like fun to watch! that doll looks super creepy though lol i won’t watch it alone!
I am not a big fan of horror movies but my daughter is. I know she will enjoy watching this. I am going to give her a call today. Thanks for your honest review of the film. That doll looks really creepy. I hope it doesn’t show up in my dreams tonight.
I’m not a fan of horror movies. But this is something my husband might like.
This is so creepy for me! I don’t want to watch it tonight. I might not be able to sleep!
I think I’ve seen the trailer for the first film before but I really don’t do horror movies.
Myself and my other half loved the first one of this film. We will deffo be watching this at somepoint xx
I have not seen The Boy but this one is pretty much intriguing. I will watch the 1st part and then this. And thanks for not giving spoilers.
Interesting review. A horror movie for me once in a while is a great change. I must watch the first part and then this after that. Thanks for sharing.