Brahms: The Boy II

Hopefully you read/hummed this review's subject title in the exact same way as you would sing the lyrics to The Beatles' classic song "Hey Jude". Just checking...

I rather dug "The Boy", William Brent Bell's first film from 2016. It had a fairly original concept, and made good use of the constantly sinister atmosphere and a couple of effectively unsettling moments. A sequel was inevitable, and although overall very watchable and adequately made, "The Boy II" is the most stereotypical, by-the-numbers and clichéd sequel there can be.

Katie Holmes (since many years in desperate need of a career reboot) depicts a mom who, together with her son, went through a traumatizing home-jacking experience. Since then, mommy suffers from anxiety and nightmares, while her 8-year-old son Jude stopped talking altogether. In an attempt to process the events, the family moves to a vacationing house in the countryside. At the estate surrounding an old gothic mansion, Jude finds an antique porcelain doll buried in the ground. What initially looks like an efficient auxiliary to help Jude communicate again, quickly turns into an even bigger nightmare because Brahms the doll takes full possession of the emotionally vulnerable child.

Every dreadful cliché you can think of features here: disturbing children's drawings, disappearing dogs, supposedly lifeless dolls turning their heads or disappearing in the blink of an eye, bullying teens getting what they deserve, etc... To make things even worse, "The Boy II" is entirely without blood, violence or casualties. A few fake scares and Katie Holmes' terrified grimaces are not enough to make a horror film.

At one point I was like " Is something going to happend ? ". I asked myself that 1 hour into the movie knowing they had only 25 minutes left to finished with something that makes sens. The first movie really had an impact on me because I was not expecting the end at all and I was hoping to have the same feeling about this one. Or at least something that make sens with the end of the previous one. But I feel like they used the easy way out with that predictable ending.

Not to spoil it for you, but the first film made only a modest profit, and that is because it had a very low budget. That first film makes the events in this film impossible. So it looks like this is just a reboot attempt since Brahms is a very spooky looking doll and could probably sell horror movie tickets if the theme is franchised, except, to tell you the truth, this film is a bit of a bore.

The backstory is that there is a burglary that somehow traumatizes the young son in the family, although the details of this trauma are never told. So the family goes out to the country to regroup. The young son, who has simply stopped talking due to the burglary/assault, digs up the porcelain doll Brahms. He begins to bond with Brahms, as his parents sulk around the house, I guess feeling bad that they could not protect their son? So they let things go since at least the son is showing interest in something, but things get weird. Oh, and all you see of the burglar in the short scene dedicated to the incident is a shadow that makes it appear that the perpetrator was Popeye the Sailor.

There are some dream sequences that go nowhere as far as the story goes because it seems that there is not enough story here to flesh out a feature film length production. I would say don't waste the price of a movie ticket on this one. Instead, just stream it when it becomes available.

I gave this one 4/10 points because the atmosphere, cinematography, and acting are all very good. It's just too bad that the plot is boring and aimless.

Brahms: The Boy II takes forward the story of the creepy porcelain doll, seen in The Boy(2016). Liza(Katie Holmes), her husband Sean(Owain Yeoman) & their son Jude(Christopher Convery), move into a house next to the Heelshire Mansion. Jude befriends a porcelain yet realistic looking doll, called Brahms.

Brahms: The Boy II is a below average film. It totally disregards everything that made The Boy(2016) a memorable horror/thriller movie. Returning director William Brent Bell should not have made this film, in the first place. If it was studio pressure, they should have only made this movie, if the script was as unique as its predecessor. Katie Holmes is great as Liza. Owain Yeoman is brilliant as Sean. Christopher Convery is a complete letdown, as Jude. Ralph Ineson is effective as Joseph. Brahms: The Boy II is not at all worth watching. Give this complete disappointment a miss, and re-watch the first one instead.

After a burglary in their house in London, Liza (Katie Holmes) and her son Jude (Christopher Convery) are traumatized: Lisa becomes frigid with her husband Sean (Owain Yeoman) and Jude a speechless boy. Liza and Sean decide to rekindle their lives moving to a house in the countryside nearby the Heelshire Mansion and Jude's psychiatrist Dr. Lawrence (Anjali Jay) agrees that it would be benefit for him. While walking through the woods with Liza, Jude finds a buried porcelain doll and decides to keep it. Then they meet the groundkeeper Joseph (Ralph Ineson) and his dog Oz that walks with Liza and Jude home. Jude becomes obsessed for the doll that he calls Brahms and shows rules to be followed by the family that Brahms told him. Further, he changes his behavior and weird things happen in the house.

"The Boy" (2016) is a surprisingly good horror film. The sequel "Brahms: The Boy II" (2020) is inferior to the original film but is a decent horror movie that uses many clichés, but startles in many scenes and entertains. The performances are good, the atmosphere is creepy, and the screenplay is acceptable. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Brahms: Boneco do Mal II" ("Brahms: Evil Doll II")