The Boy Behind The Door(2020)(Review)[Weirdo Wednesday]

Fresh out of a film festival, this movie was picking up steam. Being hailed as a white-knuckle thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, I was super excited to see this one.

When two boys are kidnapped, one of them manages to escape from the trunk of the car he was being held in, but he can hear his friend’s screams coming from the house it’s parked at. A tale of loyalty, cleverness, and intensity.
Overall, the film itself is pretty solid. The lead boy Bobby (played by Lonnie Chavez) is phenomenal – this kid is really going places. There are moments where 1/3 of the lines are either just screaming or “HELP!”s, and those grow monotonous and stale over time, but his reactions and his interactions with other people is fantastic. His best friend Kevin has much less on-screen time, but he holds his own with heighted emotions.

But while the acting is good and the premise calls for a lot of tension, the fact of the matter is we’ve all seen this exact film before. There is nothing overly clever or new to it besides the fact that the children play both the victims and the heroes. But there is a tiny twist that happens near the middle regarding the kidnappers, but even then it’s the kind of twist that calls for an “oh…” instead of an “…oh!”

It’s an eventful watch and I’m glad to have seen it, but you can honestly guess how it goes. And for that I find it hard to give it a great rating. Still, for an independent title, you have quite a bit to love with the cinematography, the set design, and especially the acting. I’m standing directly in the middle on this one.

2.5/5
“The Boy Behind the Door” is currently streaming on Shudder.

‘Til Next Time,
Mike Cleopatra