Brahms: The Boy II is a fittingly awkward title for a story that did not demand a continuation. The Boy was a modestly budgeted horror release in January of 2016. It went on to gross $35 million in the U.S. and ultimately made $68 million worldwide. It only cost $10 million so the fact that a sequel was made isn’t surprising. The bewildering concept is that the previous entry ended on a note of finality. A clever reveal made it seemingly impossible to create a compelling follow-up from that basis. None of the actors from the film return incidentally. My fears were indeed justified. This movie is utterly uninteresting.
Killer toys usually involve a doll coming to life. It’s practically a horror genre unto itself now. They have a long and rich history. I often point to the 1963 episode “Living Doll” from the TV series The Twilight Zone as a key inspiration. It wasn’t the first example but it was a notable work. The Child’s Play series is probably the most famous incarnation for audiences of today. The Boy is part of that tradition and it was a serviceable drama that offered an amusing twist. For this work to exist, however, screenwriter Stacey Menear had to retroactively introduce new elements. These additions change what made the original film unique and reduce this new offering into something wholly pedestrian and dull.
Brahms: The Boy II is so thoroughly generic, mundane, banal, mediocre, uninteresting that to write a longer review would essentially be a creative exercise in using a thesaurus. Sadly the narrative is a complete zero. Nevertheless, it has some nice attributes. I will admit the production design is lush. The old mansion with its rooms of ornate furniture is nicely photographed and there is an underlying sense that something exciting could happen at any point. Actor Christopher Convery as 8-year-old Jude conveys weirdness. Sitting in a sweater-tie combo alongside his porcelain doll dressed in identical attire is a captivating image. Now how’s that for a plot twist? A one-and-a-half star review that ends on a positive note.
2 Responses
Just awful. Poor Katie Holmes, she accepted such a bad role. This should have been straight to video, or streaming. 1 1/2 star.
Katie Holmes’ career is a study in what could have been. She never really delivered on the early promise she showed in the TV series Dawson’s Creek. Thank You for Smoking was her last great role in 2005.