Written and directed by Justin Powell and David Charbonier
Starring Lonnie Chavis, Ezra Dewey and Kristin Bauer van Straten
Running time: 1 hour and 28 minutes

by Nikk Nelson

Kids in horror has always been important to me. Perhaps it sounds like a strange principle but, not fishing for sympathy, there were several aspects of my childhood that were very horrific. I always found solace in horror, particularly if I could see myself represented in the film. So, movies like The Shining (1980), The Witches (1990), Child’s Play (1988) and The Lost Boys (1987) were all very important to me as a kid. It gave me a way to reconcile what was happening around me—a way to be healthy in an unhealthy environment. And, perhaps, my sense of this is wrong, but it seemed like starting in 1999, with the school shooting in Columbine, kids disappeared from horror. Major movie studios, I feel, tend to over-respond to tragedies like this. I get that they have to. If, later that year, Warner Brothers released a horror film in which a kid is eaten by a murderous alien slug, even though that has absolutely nothing to do with a school shooting, it becomes too easy of an accusation that they are contributing to the violence that is inspiring school shootings. But finally, at long last, kids are returning to horror in films like The Boy Behind the Door (2020), and I am one hundred percent here for it.

My initial instincts surrounding this film were correct. It’s The People Under the Stairs (1991) meets The Shining (1980) with a sprinkle of Don’t Breathe (2016). I loved it. The film follows Bobby, played in a tense, breakout performance by a barely teen aged Lonnie Chavis, and his friend Kevin, played in no less of an impressive turn by Ezra Dewey, two young pals whose idyllic summer lives are suddenly and terrifyingly upended when they are kidnapped and held hostage in a strange house in the middle of nowhere. Bobby manages to escape but, instead of running for the hills, he turns back, refusing to leave his best friend behind. What follows is a taut and claustrophobic game of cat and mouse as Bobby desperately tries to rescue his friend all the while avoiding his sadistic captors.

A third standout performance comes from the lead captor, Ms. Burton, played by Kristin Bauer van Straten, for whom I’ve wanted to be a footstool ever since watching the HBO series, True Blood. Ms. Burton is cold, calculatingly violent and a perfect nemesis opposite the young leads. What unfolds is a transfixed meditation on the exit of childhood into adolescence with plenty of Freudian undertones to keep you busy. The film is shot beautifully by Julián Estrada. Its use of primary colors, especially the blues and oranges, reminded me of, what I consider to be, a classic with similar themes, Stephen Hopkins’s Judgement Night (1993). Every shot feels absolutely intentional in the building of a confined, oppressive maze of sweat, suspense, and desperation. Writers/directors Justin Powell and David Charbonier have turned in a masterpiece of juvenile horror. The age and innocence of the characters gives them no quarter in a world where nothing is soft-pedaled. From jump, the doors are locked, the pedal is floored and the only thing you can do is hold on tight.

The Boy Behind The Door first screened at the 2020 Fantastic Film Festival and will hopefully be available to watch soon.

*Hear Nikk on episode 024 of Moviejawn’s I Saw it in a Movie podcast.*