The Boogeyman: Disney+ Review

Cast: Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, David Dastmalchian, Vivien Lyra Blair
Director: Rob Savage

There's much that works in the atmospheric The Boogeyman, adapted from the short story by Stephen King and starring Yellowjackets' Thatcher.

Equally though, in expanding out an 18 page story, there is also a portion of The Boogeyman that doesn't work as well as it could.

Functioning as a story on trauma and grief, it's the tale of siblings Sadie (Thatcher) and Sawyer (Blair) who are having differing reactions to the death of their mother in a car accident. Their father Will (Air's Messina) is shut off, refusing to listen to any of his elder daughter's concerns about what happens next - and ignoring the fact his youngest Sawyer is absolutely terrified of the dark, insisting on nightly closet inspections and sleeping with a lightball firmly gripped to her chest.

However, when Will's visited by a seemingly dangerous patient (a cameo from Dastmalchian), all of their worlds are irrevocably changed...

Making the most of what troubles children and those of a nervous disposition proves to be beneficial for The Boogeyman's Savage as he crafts a haunting film that only really flounders when it veers out of the core horror dynamics and under laws of logic.

Thatcher's troubled and tortured character is well-realised by an actress who is able to imbue her fairly stereotypical story arc with some nuances; certainly when paired with Blair, the duo seem plausible and their fear tangible.

But the script's insistence of fleshing out moments that don't require any additional focus and in bringing in one character for the sole purposes of exposition threaten to topple the atmospherics already created. And certainly in the film's finale, The Boogeyman leans too heavily into the schlockier edges of a King-related script and unoriginal tropes from the genre.

While it may be a little drawn out in parts, when concentrating on the horror basics, and tapping into universal fears of the nighttime, The Boogeyman proves to be wildly effective and occasionally nerve-shreddingly terrifying. 

It's just a shame the mantra of pursuing a creature "thing that comes for your kids when you're not paying attention" is diluted and overcomplicated a little too much throughout.