The Boy (2016)

Plot Summary of The Boy (2016)

A woman named Greta Evans travels to the United Kingdom after being hired as a nanny by a rich family. Upon her arrival, she immediately takes off her shoes and looks around the mansion because the owner is away. She is surprised by the arrival of a man named Malcolm. Malcolm himself is a local delivery man who stops by often. Then Malcolm invites Greta for a tour.

Not long after, an elderly woman, Mrs. Heelshire, the house owner's wife, arrives. Mrs. Heelshire asks where Greta's shoes are. Greta shows where she had taken off her shoes, and she is surprised, as they are gone. Mrs. Heelshire casually says, "It is probably her son's doing." Then Mrs. Heelshire invites Greta to meet her husband, Mr. Heelshire. She also introduces her to the boy she is supposed to babysit. But to her surprise, this "boy" turns out to be a porcelain doll named Brahms. She laughs, thinking it's a joke. But Mrs. Heelshire and Mr. Heelshire look serious. Mrs. Heelshire tells Greta that many nannies had applied for the job, but Brahms turned them down because they were neither young nor beautiful.

The Heelshires teach Greta how to take care of Brahms, leaving her a list of strict rules to follow. This includes reading to Brahms in a loud and clear voice, playing loud music for him, keeping the leftovers in the fridge, setting a mousetrap, and giving Brahms a goodnight kiss. Mrs. Heelshire tells Greta that Brahms is shy and only moves when no one is watching. Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire then ask Brahms his opinion on Greta. Greta feels strange with what she sees. Mr. Heelshire closes the door for privacy. Before long, the two of them come out and tell Greta that Brahms likes Greta and he wants her to babysit him. Greta calls her sister to tell her about her experience in the house.

The following day, Greta hears Mrs. Heelshire, who is angry because it turns out that Brahms ransacked his room. Then, Mr. Heelshire comes, saying that they are going on vacation, leaving Greta alone with Brahms. Mr. Heelshire shows some of Greta's schedules for the next few days. After they leave, Greta begins to ignore the rules, leaving Brahms alone.

Greta wakes up hearing strange noises in the middle of the night, and Greta immediately looks for the source of that strange noise. While in front of a painting... suddenly a hand is coming right out of a wall to choke her. It turns out to be a nightmare. Then Greta checks into Brahms' room and sees tears welling up in his eyes. When examined, it turns out that the ceiling is leaking. That night, suddenly, Greta gets a call. But when she picks it up, no one speaks.

In the morning, Malcolm comes to deliver groceries, and Greta asks a few questions about Brahms. Malcolm tells her that Brahms was once a real boy and was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire. But then, one day, their house caught fire and after not being able to escape on time, Brahms died. The doll is simply a coping mechanism for the family to deal with their loss. Malcolm then asks her out for a date that night. Greta agrees.

Greta gets ready for the date. While on the phone with her sister, Greta sees that Brahms is watching her, and she closes the door. Greta continues to shower. However, she is surprised to find that her hair has been cut, and her dress and necklace are missing. Greta then rushes to look for it; she is lured to the attic by strange noises. She climbs the ladder, and suddenly, the attic ladder closes by itself. Greta is locked inside. Malcolm comes to pick up Greta, and Greta shouts for help, but Malcolm doesn't hear her. And he leaves instead.

Greta then tries to find another way out. Then suddenly, a huge shadow appears in front of her face, shocking her. And she faints. In the morning, when Greta wakes up, she is mysteriously let out. She explains to Malcolm what happened last night. It turns out that the ladder can close and open on its own. Greta asks Malcolm about Brahms once again, and he states that there are two rumors about Brahms. There are some people in the town who feel sorry for him as they remember him being a very good boy, but on the other hand, there are others who claim that the boy was evil.

Later that night, Greta calls her sister again. Her sister tells her that her abusive ex-boyfriend named Cole has been trying to find out where she is. Greta hates Cole very much. Greta suffered a miscarriage after being beaten by Cole. Greta then gets ready for bed and brushes her teeth. Just as she finishes brushing her teeth, she hears a strange noise from Brahms' room. She approaches. And Brahms' room is seen very messy with a lot of papers scattered. She straightened Brahms' head which is tilted, and suddenly the head moves by itself, but it is just another nightmare.

The next day, Greta goes to Brahms' room and sees that Brahms has changed his position. He sits with her schedule beside him as if he is asking Greta to obey and do everything as scheduled. Greta, who is shocked, immediately runs to her room and tries to call her sister. Suddenly the phone rings. As Greta answers the phone, a child's voice is heard telling Greta to follow the rules. Then a shadow appears under the door, and a child's voice is heard. Greta now realizes that the doll holds far more secrets than she had initially imagined. The doll is alive! Greta then opens the door and sees a tray of food filled with sandwiches that Brahms has given her. At that time, Greta has mixed feelings. It turns out that Brahms doesn't want to hurt her; he just wants her attention. She then calls Malcolm and tells him about it, but Malcolm doesn't take her seriously.

A scene later reveals Mrs. and Mr. Heelshire writing a letter to Brahms which states: "We cannot bear to live with what you have become. The girl is yours now." After writing this letter, both Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire stuff their coats with rocks and commit suicide.

Greta, who now realizes that Brahms is only the spirit of an innocent young boy who wants to be cared for, then starts to be nice to Brahms and do the things entrusted to her. The following day, Malcolm comes with a letter from Mrs. Heelshire and Mr. Heelshire. He also asks Greta out for a walk that evening. However, Greta now feels responsible for Brahms and refuses Malcolm's invitation. Disappointed, Malcolm leaves. Greta is then surprised by Brahms, who can move places by himself.  

The following day, Greta asks Malcolm to come, to show that Brahms is actually alive. At first, she fails to prove it because the doll only moves when no one is watching. So she then leaves the doll alone, and it moves. Eventually, Malcolm believes her. That night, Malcolm stays with Greta. The two are spending their time together, but their activity is stopped by Brahms, who is possibly jealous.

Then the two of them have a conversation in the kitchen. Malcolm realizes that Greta is getting attached to him; he warns her by disclosing a more detailed story surrounding Brahms’ death. According to what he knows, when he was a child, Brahms used to play with another girl of his age named Emily Cribbs. On Brahms’ 8th birthday, Emily went to play with Brahms in the Heelshire mansion and never returned. Her body was later discovered in the woods with her skull crushed. When the cops arrived at the mansion to question the young boy, it was already burning down, and Brahms was later found dead. With this, Malcolm concludes that Brahms’ spirit, which resides in the doll, could possibly be evil.

In the morning, Greta’s abusive ex-boyfriend, Cole, shows up at the mansion, intending to force Greta back home. For Greta's safety, Malcolm stays nearby. At night, Greta asks the doll for help. Cole wakes up and sees a message written in blood telling him to leave. Believing it was done by either Greta or Malcolm, he becomes furious. Realizing that Brahms did it using rat blood, she tries explaining it to him, but he refuses to believe her. Eventually, Malcolm ends up joining them, and he too tries to convince Cole that there’s a lot more to the doll than meets the eye. Cole gets a fit of anger and he smashes the doll to pieces. This is when the lights in the house start to flicker. The house begins to shake, and they hear noises behind the walls. Cole tries to figure out where the noise is coming from. Then, suddenly, the mirror explodes. Cole falls behind. From a hole behind it, emerges a man who turns out to be the real, now-adult Brahms, wearing a porcelain mask identical to the doll's face. Brahms beats Cole and kills him. Malcolm and Greta are frightened and run for safety.

Greta and Malcolm discover Brahms' room. There, they find a doll made from Greta's missing dress, hair, and jewelry sitting in Brahms' bed. From that room, Brahms has been watching Greta all this time. Greta also finds the goodbye letter from the Heelshires, revealing their plan of leaving Greta behind as a mate for Brahms.

Then Brahms finds them. Brahms knocks out Malcolm, threatening to kill him if Greta leaves. Greta is able to escape the house but returns to save Malcolm. Arming herself with a screwdriver, she invokes the rules and forces Brahms to bed. He asks for a goodnight kiss; when he tries to kiss her, she stabs him. Brahms tries to choke her, but she pushes the weapon in deeper, and he collapses. Greta rescues Malcolm, and they escape the house. In the closing scene of the film, Brahms can be seen putting back pieces of the doll together, suggesting that he is probably still alive.

From all of this, we can deduce that Brahms never died in the first place. He was always a twisted little kid and he ended up murdering Emily Cribbs on his 8th birthday. To save him from the world, his parents burned their own house and faked his death, and hid him in the walls of their grand mansion. It also reflects on why Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire committed suicide. Eventually, their guilt outweighed their love for their child, and they decided to end their own suffering.

Also, there are several hints dropped throughout the runtime of the film that lead up to its big reveal. In the beginning of the movie, when Mrs. Heelshire tells Greta about the rules of the house, she makes it clear that Brahms likes his music loud. This suggests that since Brahms lives in the walls, music or anything that is being read out to him should be loud enough to be audible through the walls. The Heelshires also seem to be very particular about keeping their house vermin free. They emphasize on how she’s expected to keep the mouse traps clean so that none of the mice enter the walls of the house. Mr. Heelshire also tells her that they save all of their uneaten food and it is pretty obvious that all of this food goes to Brahms. Mrs. Heelshire tells Greta that Brahms is shy and only moves when no one is watching. This shows that the doll was never actually moving on its own but was being moved by the real Brahms who lives in the walls.