Movie Review: Brahms: The Boy 2

By Ryan Grow | March 4, 2020

Witness the horrifying truth behind Brahms in Brahms: The Boy 2, now playing in theaters. 

When a young family moves to the Heelshire’s residence, terror strikes when a boy from the family discovers a doll called Brahms that appears to be eerily human.

Its been four years since Brahms: The Boy 2 was released and now director William Brent Bell and screenwriter Stacey Menear return with a new vision that goes deeper into the mystery behind the doll and Brahms. 

There wasn’t really anything original in Bell and Menear’s first crack at the creepy-doll horror genre, but Brahms: The Boy 2 did manage to pull off enough scares to keep things entertaining. With Brahms: The Boy 2, the sequel manages to be creepy and scary while also dealing with trauma. 

The film gets the ball rolling in the opening when a horrifying home invasion traumatizes both Liza (Katie Holmes) and her son Jude (Christopher Convery), setting up solid character work and a sense of unease that goes beyond the “look, here is a creepy doll” moments. Holmes is a refreshing and strong leading lady. She plays the kind of character that fights back hard and is smart enough to know that something isn’t right. The horror genre needs more leading ladies like this. 

And poor Jude has a lot going on, from the selective mutism that happens after the invasion to being semi-possessed from the doll, the script gives Convery a lot to work with and he just knocks it out of the park (this kid deserves an award). You can easily believe the growing terror that Jude is experiencing.

When things start to get weird you start to question Liza’s mental and emotional state, same as Lauren Cohen’s character in the first film. The first film illusion of some supernatural force when in fact it was just a crazy guy living in the walls. The sequel does deliver on the supernatural force in trying to make sense of what’s happening. 

Bell and Menear approach the sequel from an interesting angle: We know that Brahms brings something evil with him, and so while we might have some doubts about Liza’s perspective (a series of nightmare sequences to try and make us doubt her), we’re never not on her side.

Overall, Brahms: The Boy 2 improves the mythology of its villain and is a decent sequel. The horror genre has had its ups and downs so far this year but Brahms: The Boy 2 certainly helps the genre just enough. 

Critic Rating: 4/5

What did you think of the film? Sound off in the comments.