The Boy Behind the Door – Relentless Tension
Director: David Charbonier, Justin Powell
Writer: David Charbonier, Justin Powell (Screenplay)
Starring: Lonnie Chavis, Ezra Dewey, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Scott Michael Foster, Micah Hauptman, Rich Ceraulo Ko
Plot: After Bobby and his best friend Kevin are kidnapped and taken to a strange house in the middle of nowhere, Bobby manages to escape. But as he starts to make a break for it, he hears Kevin’s screams for help and realizes he can’t leave his friend behind.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Boy Behind the Door starts when two boys Bobby (Chavis) and Kevin (Dewey) are kidnapped and taken to a mysterious home, Bobby manages to escape his situation, only to learn the Kevin is still trapped. Bobby doesn’t want to leave his friend, so looks for a way to rescue him, learning more about the house in the process.
With Bobby needing to stay out of sight, he finds himself needing to figure out the solution before it is too late, where he will need to try and hide, staying one step ahead of their captor.
Thoughts on The Boy Behind the Door
Characters & Performances – Bobby is one of the two boys kidnapped, he is the one that manages to escape, but doesn’t want to leave his friend behind. He will do everything in his power to find a place to hide from the captor, as he looks for a way to rescue his best friend, smart, tough and unwilling to give up. Lonnie Chavis does a great job in this role, he gives us a performance that show the toughness needed to survive. Kevin is the friend that has been kidnapped too, he is put though something horrendous, needing to find a way to escape, but also knowing he doesn’t want Bobby to go through what he did. Ezra Dewey does well in his role too, showing the true pain his character has been through, balancing the desperation to escape with the fear of something worse happening. The captor has been putting the kids through a torture for their own pleasure, they will do anything to keep their secret and doesn’t want to lose what they have either.
Story – The story here follows a young boy that is looking to save his friend after the pair are kidnapped by someone that wants to use them for their own means, giving us a high-end tension filled experience. The story will leave us within the one location, as the boys don’t know how to get out of the situation, not knowing where they are and not knowing how dangerous the captor is. This will get involved in a dark subject matter, one that will leave us in shock when we see what is going on, or what the plans are, while we get to see the survival side (thankfully) where we see how the boys must look to fight back to survive.
Themes – The Boy Behind the Door is a horror thriller that will show us the isolated location the two boys find themselves in away from anywhere they know. The tension comes from seeing how the boys need to try and stay ahead of the captor, with plenty of searching sequences, while we do get the shock moments when it comes to seeing the fights between the adult and child.
Final Thoughts – The Boy Behind the Door is a horror filled with tension, while tackle a disturbing subject.
