If you want to hear about how one dark story point cut from the movie is hidden in the
background of this movie, then stick around to the end of this video.
[INTRO]
Welcome back to Things You Missed.
Today I'll be covering one of my favorite psychological horror films that kind of flew
under the radar because of the sheer volume of great horror movies that came out in 2016.
I'm talking about The Boy.
This is one of those movies that can be fun look back on because it is only after learning
of the twist that some of the Things You Missed start to make sense.
So as usual with these types of movies, I'll urge you to make sure you've seen the movie
before hearing me analyse it, so with that in mind, let's get into the Things You Missed.
[THINGS YOU MISSED]
When Greta arrives at the house for the first time, she is still asleep in the car, and
the driver, after bringing in her stuff, has to wake her up.
"Apologies Miss.
I didn't know how else to wake you."
This first interaction she has is symbolic of the time she would spend there, most of which
is her being frightened by the man on the other side of the mirror.
She finds that the house is seemingly empty until she meets the grocery delivery man Malcolm
and he shows her around the kitchen.
The crates he uses to deliver the food are from Broadhurst Farm Grocers.
Broadhurst is one of the many examples of the initials BH, which come up again and again
in this story.
The boy she is hired to look after, Brahms Heelshire, has the initials BH; the letters
are carved into the rat traps set up around the house; and the book that Greta later reads
out loud to Brahms has a character named Mr. Brocklehurst, BH.
More on that later.
She meets the family and they explain the rules, like how she is to play music at an
uncomfortably loud volume, most likely so that the real Brahms can have some time to
move freely, possibly to exercise.
She is also to clear out the rat traps daily, because Mrs. Heelshire is afraid of the rodents
getting into the walls where he's living.
It also gives a plausible reason as to why she is to discard any uneaten food in the
sealed chest, it gives Brahms the opportunity to feast on her leftovers.
"Our son is here.
He's very much with us."
Well, at least he gets points for honesty.
I also find it interesting that he tells her this stuff while they're outside, because
the rooms inside the house seem to be all connected by these tubes, which carry the
sound.
"And that was it.
Which I suppose is all the answer we're gonna get."
This system is perfect for Brahms to keep tabs on her, he can listen in on her and make
sure she’s following the rules no matter where he is in the house, while also making
noises to try to convince her that the spirit of Brahms is present in the house.
To cover this up, the Heelshire’s have added a rule that she can’t have any guests over,
and only Malcolm can come in to make the deliveries, this way she never becomes aware of the way
the sound carries because for the most part she’s the only one making any sounds.
If you were wondering if the Heelshires are in on it, or if they too were being fooled
by Brahms, consider this.
Before they leave, they take a moment alone, which I’m guessing was for a final face
to face with the real Brahms.
“Could you give us a moment alone to speak to Brahms privately?”
“Oh sure.”
I’ll crank up the volume right here, where you can actually hear Brahms’s voice.
"Brahms".
*unintelligible*
"I think she's lovely.
*unintelligible*
"I think she should stay."
You can’t make out what he’s saying, but you can tell that it isn’t Mr. or Mrs. Heelshire.
“He wants you, Ms. Evans.
He’s chosen you if you’ll have him.”
The backstory that we later learn tells us that Brahms used to play with a young girl
named Emily, but one day she was found killed in the woods.
It was most likely Brahms, who had always had some issues, so The Heelshires started
a fire and faked their son’s death to avoid the consequences.
They let him hide for years inside the walls, until they can’t do it anymore, so that’s
why they pretend they are going on holiday, where they really just end up offing themselves
out of guilt for what they allowed Brahms to become.
They also seem nervous as they’re leaving, probably because Brahms has become too powerful
and they don’t know if their vacation cover story is gonna hold up.
I think Brahms grave marker is another clue, it says ‘he shall not perish but have everlasting
life’, though I’m not sure why they would leave a clue to a secret they’re trying
to keep.
"I'm so sorry..."
"Come along my dear.
It's time we left."
Guess they just wanted a little inside joke between the two of them.
The penultimate rule is “Brahms is never to leave,” because looking back on it, the
illusion that the doll is possessed would never hold up in the outside world, it only
works because the real Brahms is able to emerge from inside the walls while Greta isn’t
looking.
So all of these tactics are enough to plant that subconscious seed in Greta’s mind that
Brahms could really be alive.
In her first dream scene, the shot begins with us looking through a mirror, and it is
through the mirror where Brahms would eventually reveal himself.
There are many shots like this that seems to be coming from Brahm’s point of view,
whether he’s stealing her stuff while she's in the shower, spying on her through a keyhole
or otherwise.
The dream ends with a hand reaching out through the wall to attack her, so perhaps some subconscious
part of her suspected the truth as a possibility.
After things start to get weird around the house, Greta gives in and starts following
the routine that the Heelshire’s had laid out for her, which includes reading aloud
to the doll every day.
She reads a selection from Jane Eyre, a 19th Century British novel.
There are a ton of parallels between the story of Jane Eyre and Greta’s story in The Boy,
but the most notable part is when Jane becomes a Governess, which is essentially the role
Greta is filling at the house, and meets a man Rochester.
One evening Jane discovers that Rochester has been set on fire in his sleep and it turns
out to be a madwoman in the attic who was responsible.
Jane saves Rochester’s life, just as Greta goes back to save Malcolm from Brahms in The
Boy.
If you’ve read Jane Eyre, I’m sure you can find other parallels as well, but I’m
going to move on to the dark truth behind Brahms’s intentions in the movie.
In a Q&A with the screenwriter Stacey Menear, he reveals that Greta wasn’t brought in
to be either a girlfriend or mother figure to Brahms, but rather a messed up in-between
of the two.
We get a pretty good idea of this when they discover the real room, with the the makeshift
sack-doll wearing her dress on the bed, but what you may not have noticed is the used
tissues.
I’ll let you draw your own conclusion with that.
The doll also has a full head of hair.
It’s possible that at least some of that is her real hair, because we see her notice
a chopped portion upon getting out of the shower earlier in the film.
The arms are covered in what seem to be refrigerator letter magnets, maybe the director’s clue
about the in-between status that Menear was talking about.
That brings us to the last rule: kiss goodnight.
I can only imagine, given everything that’s been presented that Brahms did not plan on
stopping at the kiss.
It certainly gives new meaning to this line.
“Well we’ve had a number of potential nannies come through already.
Brahms has rejected them all.
Though they weren’t nearly as young or as pretty as you.”
It was also hinted at that Brahms exhibited a sort of sadistic behavior as a child, many
rumors in town seem to think he was responsible for crushing the young girl Emily’s skull,
and that does seem possible after seeing the superhuman strength displayed during his rampage.
He also has an array of animal traps and possible torture devices hanging from his ceiling.
I think that means the BH carved into the rat trap that I mentioned earlier probably
doesn’t stand for Brahms, and sadism is one of the many psychological issues that
he has.
Where else would he have gotten the blood used to leave the message for Greta’s ex-boyfriend
Cole?
There are plenty of secrets hidden all over this movie, so let me know what you might
have noticed in the comments, and if you love horror, don’t hide behind that mirror, come
out and subscribe to CZsWorld for new horrors every week, ring that deathbell for notifications
and I’ll see you in the next one.
Assuming we both survive.