The Boogeyman review: Stephen King short story will leave you with nightmares

Director: Rob Savage (Dashcam)

Starring: Chris Messina, Sophie Thatcher, Vivien Lyra Blair

***1/2

No avoiding those scare necessities

You would not say exactly that The Boogeyman is adapted from the 1973 short story of the same name by the revered and prolific author Stephen King.

To be more accurate, this eerily unsettling new horror movie builds upon the most memorable aspect of King’s tale – a psych patient’s statements to his therapist about an indescribable monster that killed his three children – and constructs a launch pad to blast off towards new chills unknown.

And it is our collective fear of the unknown that The Boogeyman so effectively exploits throughout its brief, yet tension-riddled running time.

If you were one of those kids that had to sleep with a light on – primarily because you thought there was something under your bed, in your closet or behind the bedroom door – then The Boogeyman will take you straight back to your unhappy place and leave you there.

If the movie successfully holds a line in malevolent mood management throughout, it is primarily because of the calibre of writing on display.

Scripting duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are the brains behind the A Quiet Place movies, and they are eminently qualified when it comes to messing with our minds by route of a mostly unseen evil.

As The Boogeyman begins, widowed psychologist Will Harper (Chris Messina) accepts an unscheduled visit from a prospective new client, Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian).

A big mistake on Will’s part, and not just because of the disturbing contents of Lester’s verbal ramblings. As it turns out, Lester has unwittingly brought something into the family home (where Will runs his practice) that will be seriously difficult to remove.

Just what that something might be cannot be revealed here. However, it can be hinted that the belief of Will’s young daughter Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) that her room is housing a secret occupant can and must be taken at face value.

Sawyer’s whip-smart older sister Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) eventually supports the child’s inkling that those bumps everyone can hear of a night-time are highly irregular in nature. Will, on the other hand, is a bit slower on the uptake. Good one, Dad.

Without giving anything more away, it is worth noting that the acting here is decidedly strong. Messina is coming off a scene-stealing effort as the mouthy lawyer in Air, while Thatcher is a standout on the hit streaming series Yellowjackets.

As for The Boogeyman’s obligatory jump scares and big reveals, they are uniformly handled with gripping aplomb.

The Boogeyman is in cinemas now

BANK OF DAVE (M)

General release

***

This quaint, well-meaning British feel-good affair won’t change the world, but it just might have you thinking the world is a better place than you initially thought.

This is all because the true story told here is wrapped around the warming notion that a little help for a fellow human can go a long way if dispensed in the right manner.

So when a bloke called Dave Fishwick decided to start his own bank for the benefit of his own economically challenged community in the regional UK town of Burnley, not even he could have imagined the positive effects such an unprecedented move would ultimately have.

The movie version of Fishwick’s tale zeros in on the stiff opposition this self-taught businessman (who made his fortune selling vans) faced from Britain’s banking establishment, who hadn’t admitted a newcomer to their ranks in over 150 years. The David-vs-Goliath plot line is easy to follow and helps skim over some of the boring logistics Fishwick and his loyal supporters came up against.

However, what truly resonates (and saves the production from melting into a sticky-sweet goo) is witnessing all the sincere good achieved by such an honourable business venture (which is indeed branded The Bank of Dave). Stars Rory Kinnear, Hugh Bonneville, Phoebe Dyvenor.

SAINT OMER (M)

****

Those with either a fascination for true crime, or a craving for complex and challenging courtroom drama, should make direct tracks for this rather astonishing French production. The case covered here was the talk of France in 2016. A young Senegalese woman faced charges of murder for leaving her 15-month-old baby daughter on a beach to be swept away at high tide. The woman’s unconventional defence – maintaining the event was a result of sorcery from within her extended family back in Africa – triggered all kinds of complications with regards to issues of race, gender and procedural justice that are covered most vividly here. The movie uses the fictional character of a writer covering the trial as a crucial guide for audience members who may lose their way at some point. Though some may feel this device is unnecessary, it does not diminish the sheer potency of the story in any way.

Originally published as Super scary Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman will bring back your worst nightmares