AFI FEST 2020 | "The Boy Behind The Door" Keeps Tensions High As Best Friends Contend With Terror
10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars
“Friends til the end” is the mantra for Kevin (Ezra Dewey) and Bobby (Lonnie Chavis), young best friends who spend their days playing outside and building dreams together. But when they are both kidnapped by a stranger and taken to a remote undisclosed residence, they find themselves in a nightmarish situation. When Bobby escapes the car trunk he’s locked in, he has to venture into the house, find Kevin, and escape before the ill-intentioned strangers can find and catch them.
The Boy Behind The Door is a wicked game of hide and seek as these boys try to evade their captors and break out of this nefarious situation. Co-writers and directors David Charbonier and Justin Powell are exceptional at managing a keen sense of suspense throughout the film. And it’s hard not to admire their effort, which is evidently inspired by popular horror films; shades of The Shining are ingeniously patched into the climax. And there’s a scene with a fingernail that’s reminiscent of a moment from Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and still has me cringing even as I type this.
But The Boy Behind The Door isn’t all fun and games. The horrors that exist in this rural isolated home are deplorable, yet the film knows how to push the boundaries without crossing the line. Lead child actors Lonnie and Ezra perform the hell out of their roles, capturing all of the fear and distress that one could imagine would be involved with a scenario like the one we find in The Boy Behind The Door.
There are small details and plot points in the film that aren’t entirely logical - the idea of leaving someone to suffocate in an old car trunk, for example, is a bit distracting to anyone who recognizes that car trunks aren’t airtight. And occasionally, characters are guilty of making silly decisions that don’t make sense in the moment but happen specifically to push the scene forward - Bobby, for example, oddly trying to pry a locked door open with a knife, inevitably cutting himself and leaving blood as an indicator of his presence. But these storytelling decisions never derail the narrative nor hamper this dramatic experience.
Beneath the thrills, the horror, and a creative twist leading into the climax, The Boy Behind The Door is a story of unwavering friendship. Bobby and Kevin exhibit the ultimate friendship goals we all hope to have, especially in adverse circumstances. I can only imagine this special relationship was inspired by the co-directors’ real life friendship, as they’re described as being childhood best friends themselves. If so, the dynamic translated well from their life onto the script and from the script onto the screen, and only aids in making The Boy Behind The Door an exceptional directorial debut for the duo.
Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 2 | Reviewer's Preference - 1 | What does this mean?