(L-R): Sophie Thatcher as Sadie Harper, Chris Messina as Will Harper, and Vivien Lyra Blair as Sawyer Harper in 20th Century Studios' THE BOOGEYMAN. Photo by Patti Perret. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Courtney Howard // Film Critic
THE BOOGEYMAN
Rated PG-13, 1 hour and 38 minutes
Directed by: Rob Savage
Starring: Chris Messina, Sophie Thatcher, Vivien Lyra Blair, David Dastmalchian, Marin Ireland, LisaGay Hamilton, Madison Hu, Maddie Nichols
Mere minutes into director Rob Savage’s THE BOOGEYMAN, as the camera slowly pans around an infant’s nursery at night and an obscured, wheezing creature splatters a family photo with the crying baby’s blood, we know we’re in for a truly harrowing journey. And your body will undoubtedly feel sore from clenching for 98 minutes straight. Based on Stephen King’s short story of the same name in Night Shift, this adaptation centered on a grief-stricken family terrorized by a malevolent monster is an unrelenting nerve-rattler that earns its scares by getting us to care deeply about its harassed heroes.
It’s been one month since the sudden, accidental death of Sadie Harper’s (Sophie Thatcher) mother. The 16-year-old is still in throes of grief, surrounding herself with her mom’s things and cloaking herself in her mother’s wardrobe. Even her bestie Bethany (Madison Hu) is having trouble bringing her out of her sullen shell. Sadie’s younger sister Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) is terrified of the dark, seeking therapy to get over it, but still sleeping with a lit orb in her bed at night. Their therapist father Will (Chris Messina) is also not doing so hot, dealing with a pressing need to move on but feeling stunted emotionally.
Yet just as they’re starting a new chapter, trauma strikes their home again when a disturbed individual, Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian), pays a surprise visit to Will’s practice. He’s accused of killing his three kids, but swears he didn’t do it – a spider-walking supernatural entity called The Boogeyman did. Soon after that confession, he hangs himself in the Harpers’ closet, which opens a pathway for his persistent plague to enter their household. And this spook sets its sights on Sawyer and Sadie, terrorizing them as it hungers for blood.
Screenwriters Scott Beck, Bryan Woods and Mark Heyman deliver the goods with their litany of surprising jump scares, which feel earned and palpably potent – a true feat given many films of its ilk deal in lazy, predictable ones. The way they, along with Savage and editor Peter Gvozdas, coax tension out of these innovative sequences is a masterclass in construction. We can sense what doom lurks in the shadows, but it’s not until it surfaces does the dangerous gloom pierce through. Sadie’s “7 Minutes in Heaven” trapped in a closet with the lumbering spook is nightmare fuel, along with Sawyer’s first nighttime encounter with the creature, who escapes from her closet only to scurry under her bed.
Cinematographer Eli Born not only captures the darkest recesses with disquieting vigor, but through his lens the daylight hours also pose unsetting threats with their bleak undertones. Patrick Jonsson’s score is a standout, blending sorrowful and staccato strings. The sound design team also earns top marks with ominously creaky doors and floorboards, and unsettling thumps and bumps in the night.
Thatcher and Blair turn in terrific work. They share a resounding, at times playfully sweet sisterly chemistry. It’s easy to chart Sadie and Sawyer’s evolution in their capable hands, both transforming from the broken ruins of sorrow into resilient forces. Their ability to elevate the material is what makes the picture resonant. Messina, who sports a “Sadness Beard,” gives good Sad Dad vibes portraying a difficult emotional crossroads. His character’s nuanced yearning feels undeniably heart-wrenching, wanting to be strong for his daughters yet desperately needing to express his own sadness.
Nevertheless, there are a few nitpicks. Sadie’s daytime menace (a.k.a. the film’s real villain) Natalie (Maddie Nichols) is a mean girl unlike any other – and that’s not necessarily a compliment. Not even Regina George on her worst day would say and do the unbelievably rude things this abrasive blonde does in response to Sadie’s sorrow. Her character works solely for a contrived purpose. At least she’s met with a satisfactory end note. Well-meaning sentiments dealing with grief (that letting it fester and rot can debilitate) tend to get tripped up by the narrative’s logistical hypocrisy. Vulnerability caused by deep-rooted trauma and loss is what allows the darkness-dwelling monster a gateway into the victims’ lives – a concept one character voices after we’ve deduced that the Boogeyman is a metaphor for persisting grief. Yet that doesn’t seem to disabuse Sadie of trying to get her stoic, emotionally-distant dad to be vulnerable with her, which, according to these rules, would be detrimental.
Despite some of the picture’s shaggier edges, there’s a prevailing intelligence to its clearly defined characters, their relatable struggles as a family piecing themselves back together after a devastating loss, and the unique, clever construction of the frights. Add in a brisk pace, polished aesthetics and a petrifying creature, and this horror flick pushes the boundaries of what PG-13 terror can deliver in both smarts and scares.
Grade: B
THE BOOGEYMAN opens in theaters on June 2.
