Some strange people hire one girl to work as a nanny for their “son.” The case turns out to be a large doll created for them as a replacement for their real son, who died in a fire many years ago. However, the parents take care of the doll as if it were alive and force the nanny to do t
Since its inception back in the late 80s, puppet horror has now become a classic icon of the genre, and when you think about it, translating it into an audiovisual medium is no easy feat. If not implemented correctly, Puppet horror can often become more of a parody that no one will take seriously. But, despite all the difficulties, filmmakers risk giving us another horror puppet film from time to time.
The boy is another one of those films, but rather than taking the familiar generic “paranormal” route, the film brings its twists and turns to stand out in an overpopulated subgenre. And since its highlights can often be a little more complex than expected, you may need some explanation to understand what happens during its execution. So read on to better understand what the movie is trying to portray.
The same, who, about time, begins to feel something paranormal in the doll.
meaning of the film “The Boy.”
A prosperous English family hires an American nanny, Greta (Lauren Cohan), for their son. Parents raise a doll they got to cope with the death of their eight-year-old son, who died in a fire after he was suspected of killing his eight-year-old girlfriend.
After she ignores the list of strict rules given to her on a piece of paper, she begins to realize that the doll is alive. After ensuring that Brahms’s spirit is in the house, Greta starts to look after him, read fairy tales, turn on music, and kiss him before going to bed. Evidence of the presence of the spirit shows Malcolm, who brings food once a week, and he believes. Later, a romantic relationship develops between them.
Later, Greta’s ex-boyfriend, Cole, comes to the house because of a quarrel with whom (and at the same time suffered a miscarriage) the girl moved from America to England. After staying at home for the night, he wakes Greta after he finds a request to get out of the house written in rat blood on the wall. After arguing with Greta, he breaks the doll. There is a noise behind the walls, the mirror is shattered, and from the passage in the wall appears the real and adult Brahms, who survived the fire, but his face was burned, so he walks in a doll mask. All this time, he lived in a secret apartment between the walls of the house and terrorized his parents, who left him, Greta, as a ransom for themselves.
Brahms kills Cole, then chases after Greta and Malcolm. He catches up with Malcolm and deprives him of consciousness; Greta runs away but returns, take a screwdriver, and demands that Brahms follow the rule to sleep. He believes and lies down but asks for a kiss goodnight. Greta agrees, but Brahms holds her by force after a light kiss. A fight ensues, during which Greta manages to hit Brahms with a screwdriver, after which she finds Malcolm, and they leave.
Explanation of the origin of Brahms
Greta, the film’s protagonist, agrees to babysit a little boy, but to her surprise, the boy is a porcelain doll named Brahms. And, oddly enough, Greta keeps doing her job. After the boy’s parents go on vacation, hoping that Greta can take care of him, things get creepy. Eager to learn more about the doll, Greta begins to investigate her past and asks Malcolm what he knows.
Malcolm tells her that Brahms was once a real boy and was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Hilshir. But one day, their house caught fire, and, unable to escape in time, Brahms died. At first, he claims that the doll is just a mechanism for the family to cope with the loss. However, in another scene, he remembers that the boy’s past is linked to two polar stories.
Some people in the city feel sorry for him because they remember that he was a very good boy, but on the other hand, others claim that the boy was evil. Malcolm also tells her about one incident where he met Mr. Heelshere, who was wrapping his drunk around the pool table and muttering to himself. Taking advantage of the situation, Malcolm asked him what Brahms was like in life. Mr. Hilshir replied with only one word – “strange.”
When the doll begins to show signs of life and Malcolm realizes that Greta is becoming attached to him, he warns her by revealing a more detailed story about Brahms’ death. According to what he knows, Brahms played with another girl his age named Emily Cribbs when he was a child. On Brahms’ 8th birthday, Emily went to play with Brahms at the Heelshire mansion and never returned. Her body was later found in the woods with a crushed skull. When the police arrived at the mansion to interrogate the boy, he was already on fire, and Brahms was later found dead. At this, Malcolm concludes that the spirit of Brahms, which inhabits the doll, may be evil.
Suicide of Mr. and Mrs. Hillshire
After teaching Greta a set of rules she must follow, Brahms’ parents leave her alone with the doll and go on vacation. However, it is later revealed that the entire vacation was a lie. In one scene, Mrs. Hilshir is seen later writing to Brahms, “We can’t live with what you’ve become. Now the girl is yours. After writing this letter, Mr. and Mrs. Hilshir stuff their coats with stones and commit suicide. As a viewer, you assume that the doll’s spirit probably haunted Brahms’ parents, and that’s when they finally decided to take their own lives. But the truth is much more complicated.
Greta’s past and a reflection of her toxic relationship
Greta’s past and insecurities are a minor part of the film’s overall storyline, but they play a key role in reflecting her relationship with Brahms. Greta arrives at the Hillshire mansion 20 years after Brahms’ death to look after the doll. It is initially assumed that Greta is an American, and she only took the job to escape her former abusive relationship with a man named Cole. Moreover, she also has a restraining order against this ex-boyfriend.
But after moving into a mansion in Healshire, it was a lot better for her. She becomes close to Malcolm and tries to heal her broken heart by looking out for Brahms. Although the doll initially frightens her, she later suggests that Brahms is just the spirit of an innocent boy who wants to be taken care of. But in the end, she also understands that the truth is much more serious.
Ending: is Brahms alive?
Much later in the film, Gert’s ex-boyfriend shows up at the mansion and asks her to return to him. He orders her to pack her bags so they can leave the next day. Greta goes to bed with the doll and promises that she will never leave while Cole sleeps in another room. In the night, blood drips from the ceiling onto Cole’s face, and he assumes that Greta is only doing this to get him out of there. He calls her into the room and shows her a bloody inscription on the wall: “Go away.” Realizing that Brahms did this with rat blood, she tries to explain it to him, but he refuses to believe her.
Even Malcolm joins them, and he tries to convince Cole that there is much more to the doll than meets the eye. Cole becomes furious and smashes the beauty in the face. This is when the walls of the whole house begin to creak, and a full-fledged man of about twenty in a porcelain mask appears from behind the mirror. He kills Cole, and Malcolm and Greta soon realize that he is the real Brahms. The doll was something of a pawn to hide the fact that he still lives in the house, and that itself was mildly foreshadowed throughout the film.
Greta and Malcolm try to get out of the house to escape Brahms, but only Greta can get out. She returns to the mansion to save Malcolm and tells Brahms that she came back for him. She then tells him that, according to his rules, it’s time for him to sleep. When he asks for a kiss goodnight, she stabs him with a screwdriver and leaves with Malcolm. In the film’s final scene, Brahms can be seen putting the pieces of the doll together, suggesting that he is probably still alive.
From all this, we can conclude that Brahms never died. He’s always been a perverted little kid who killed Emily Cribbs on his 8th birthday. To save him from the world, his parents faked his death and hid him within the walls of their grand mansion. Since then, Brahms has been hiding in the shadows of the mansion, pretending to be dead to the world. That explains why he’s a grown man now. It also reflects why Mr. and Mrs. Hilshir committed suicide. In the end, their guilt outweighed their love for the child, and they decided to end their suffering.
Beyond that, the film’s ending also reflects how Greta decides to finally get over her past by ending all her previous toxic relationships. From the beginning of the film, she is struggling to get rid of Cole and finds it difficult to move on. Even after she has moved on with her life, she enters into a toxic relationship with Brahms, not even knowing who he is. In the film’s final moments, when she decides to kill Brahms and save Malcolm, she frees herself from a twisted sense of attachment to all the destructive people in her life.
Explaining the visual metaphors of ‘Boy.’
There are several clues throughout the movie that lead to his big reveal, and it’s those clues that will help you figure out who Brahms is and how he’s been moving the doll all along.
- At the beginning of the film, when Mrs. Hilshir tells Greta about the rules of the house, she makes it clear that Brahms likes loud music, and even when she reads something to him, she must speak loudly and clearly. This suggests that since Brahms lives within walls, the music, or whatever is read to him, must be loud enough to be heard through the walls.
- As soon as she enters the Hillshire mansion, Greta hears strange noises in the walls, and even throughout the film, strange sounds seem to flow through the mansion’s piping. These sounds indicate that Brahms is moving inside the walls and keeping a close eye on Greta.
- Before leaving with Brahms, Mrs. Hilshir tells Greta, “Despite how it looks from the outside, our son is still with us. You understand?’ He is indeed still with them.
- Mrs. Hillshire also tells her that they keep all their uneaten food, and it’s pretty evident that all of that food goes to Brahms.
- Heelshires also seem to be very careful about protecting their pet vermin. They emphasize how she must keep the mousetraps clean so that none of the mice enter the house’s walls. By doing this, they are clearly trying to keep the walls clean so Brahms can move freely and not harm the rats.
- When Greta is first trapped in the Attic, she sees a large silhouette, not a baby doll.
- Mrs. Hilshir tells Greta that Brahms is shy and only moves when no one is looking. Even in the scene where Greta tries to prove to Malcolm that the doll is alive, she first knocks on the wall, and only then does the house creak and the doll move. This shows that the doll never moved on its own but was moved by the real Brahms living within the walls.
- There is another subtle allusion to one of Greta’s dreams in the film. She dreams of Brahms’ arm sticking out of the wall to strangle her.
- Another final hint that most viewers might have missed is the epitaph on Brahms’ tombstone. It says: “… he will not perish, but will have eternal life.”
Meaning of the movie “Memento”?
Doll. It hides a frightening and previously unknown secret. But it’s not just a harmless toy. The doll carries many dangers. The toy comes to life in the movie. Her next moves are confusing and unpredictable. Events unfold in the house. The dwelling should become a fortress for the family, and it should have an atmosphere of calm and tranquility. Just not in this house.
Initially, the doll looks like a sweet and kind character. Her clumsiness and eccentricity even bring a smile to the faces of the audience. But after the inexplicable phenomena associated with it, everyone becomes uncomfortable and uncomfortable. Something strange is going on in the house. The wheel of intrigue is spinning more and more. It is almost impossible to guess what the final will be. The viewer tries to predict the outcome independently. The filmmakers even give some hints. Only the logic in further actions is difficult to grasp.
Some viewers believe that the plot is dragged out. The lack of dynamics reduces the interest in knowing the ending of the picture. But the second half of the tape changes the audience’s attitude towards the film. There is energy and movement; events are developing rapidly. The outcome was highly unexpected, and it was she who plunged the audience into an atmosphere of chilling horror.
Every family has its secrets. This story is about the heroes who perceived the doll as their son. But the boy died many years ago. Many refuse to believe in the reality of the tragedy. They force themselves to think that nothing happened. Otherwise, their hearts will burst from pain. The characters are not ready to live in harsh reality. They live in their house filled with fears, doubts, and anxieties. The family shown in the film is very strange. Their actions have nothing to do with common sense. Having lost a loved one, they could not cope morally, could not stand it.
The inhabitants of the strange house seemed to have “lost their minds.” The rules of the internal order cause bewilderment and misunderstanding, among others. However, it doesn’t matter to them. After the death of their son, their inner world collapsed and crumbled into many fragments. But this is only one side of the story. Everything turned out to be much more confusing. Perhaps the elderly couple is hiding something?
Due to the wide variety of films in the horror genre, it is difficult to surprise horror fans with something. In the movie “Doll,” the main idea is not new. However, the creators of the tape managed to intrigue the audience. Unexplained phenomena make you look more closely at the faces of the characters. What happened 20 years ago? Why do elderly people live like hermits in a house located in the forest?
The cast is perfect. The characters do not just play; they create an atmosphere of presence. The actress in the role of a nanny plausibly shows fright. The possibility of what is happening simply does not fit in her head. Initially, she was skeptical about her duties. The list presented by the elderly couple caused a smile. But after a while, the girl was no longer up to smiles.
When the situation is too confusing, it is difficult to make the right move. A person needs time to come to his senses to assess the situation. Of the possible options, the girl chose one. She decided to follow the instructions and internal rules strictly. But the fear did not leave her. At such moments, there must be a person nearby who can be trusted and open up. Next to the heroine was the exemplary character. He gave her the support she needed so badly.
