Nothing beats a Stephen King horror film, and the latest film premiered in theaters this Friday. The Boogeyman, based on the author’s short story of the same name, expands on the book’s story and details the haunting after Lester’s story ends.
The film, directed by Rob Savage, essentially focuses on Will Harper, Lester’s therapist, and his family and their encounter with the monster. The movie stars Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, Marin Ireland, Madison Hu, and David Dastmalchian.
After Lester ends up at their house claiming a monster killed his children, Will’s family is seemingly plagued by the same curse. Something in the shadows is out for Sadie and Sawyer, ripe after their mother’s recent death and a father who is trudging along in denial. After killing Lester, the Boogeyman targets the Harper kids and almost wins at his game too.
After killing Rita, Lester’s wife, Sadie and Sawyer return to save Will and defeat the monster, using the only fatal weakness they know him to possess – fire. Light always seemed to keep him away, so why shouldn’t the first source of light humanity discovered be enough to kill the ancient creature? That also explains the number of candles all over Billings’ house.
Killing it with fire seems to do the trick. Will and his daughters take therapy to be more vocal about their grief lest they succumb to emotional vulnerability and are targeted again by some other monster.
However, when Sadie visits her therapist, she hears his voice from an empty room with an ajar closet. She knows the Boogeyman can mimic voices, and she seems to sense his presence in the darkened corner of the cupboard.
Yet, before she can make sure the monster is dead and not back, her therapist enters and breaks the trance. This open ending suggests that the creature might not be done with the Harpers, leaving room to explore a potential sequel, depending on the 2023 film’s success.
The Boogeyman is the corporeal form of the grief and trauma the Harper kids were vulnerable to after their father’s void of love and their mother’s death.
Since nothing can kill sadness, and we’re only slaves to our emotions, the Boogeyman can return – that is, if he’s not dead. Sadie’s last encounter could have simply resulted from her recent experiences, a figment of her imagination. Though that’s how any horror film begins, right?
Do you think the Boogeyman is truly dead? Is there room for 20th Century Studios to make “The Boogeyman 2?” We’ll keep you posted on any sequel updates, so stay tuned to Cine Dope!
About The Boogeyman
The Boogeyman is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by Rob Savage from a screenplay by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman, based on the 1973 short story of the same name by Stephen King. The film stars Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, and David Dastmalchian.
It’s about a psychiatrist, where a man named Lester Billings talks to the doctor about the “murders” of his three young children, describing the events of the past several years. His first two children died mysteriously of apparently unrelated causes when left alone in their bedrooms. The only commonalities were that the children cried “Boogeyman!” before being left alone, and the closet door was ajar after discovering their corpses, even though Billings is certain the door was shut.
The Boogeyman was released in the United States on June 2, 2023, by 20th Century Studios.
Source: 20th Century Studios
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