THE BOOGEYMAN

Shortly after losing their wife/mother, the remaining members of the Harper family are grieving. The father, Will (Chris Messina) throws himself into his work as a therapist, having difficulty coming to terms with what happened and in the process, emotionally isolating himself from his daughters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) & Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair). Sadie wears her emotions on her sleeves and is obviously having the most difficulty with their new normal. It doesn't help that she's in high school and while her peers attempt to be supportive, they wind up treating her as a fragile piece of glass that's almost ready to break. Which leads us to young Sawyer, who first begins to see and become preyed upon by a monster that's living in their house. As a therapist, Will at first doesn't believe his daughters which brings them closer together while at the same time, separating them further from their father. The monster only attacks children although it's not clear from the story at what age is the cut off as after it attacks Sawyer, it then begins attacking Sadie as well. Based on a short story by Stephen King, this film relies entirely on jump scares as light is this monsters kryptonite. The design and visuals of the monster were unique but overall, for me, since this didn't scare, there wasn't much here. A pretty average movie that I didn't feel was worth the time of money at the theaters and sadly, was proven right. 5.5/10