<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by William Brent Bell. Starring Katie Holmes, Owain Yeoman, Christopher Convery, Ralph Ineson, Anjali Jay, Oliver Rice, Joely Collins

Running time: 1 hour 26 mins

I didn’t recall the first film nor did I think I had seen it but after doing a search I found that I had watched The Boy back in 2016 and this film is a sequel to that one. It’s got the same director and doll in it too. Pity it’s just as banal as the first one.

It’s so strange that when I watched the first scenes of Brahms The Boy II and saw the castle-like mansion I said to myself, ‘It looks like a Disney castle’ and after the movie I read the review of the first film that had the same structure and I had said exactly that about the building. Just goes to show you that nothing’s changed in the sequel.

A Brit family are traumatised in their home and decide to seek refuge in the quiet countryside in a guest house near the above mentioned castle/mansion. Their son Jude (Christopher Convery) stumbles upon the doll called Brahms and then of course he is recruited into the doll’s service, to follow his rules and make a nuisance of himself. The parents (Katie Holmes, Owain Yeoman) are pretty dumb, taking the doll in and cleaning it as if they are doll restorers. Initially it’s about providing a comfort item for their son who hasn’t talked after the traumatic incident at their city house. They do realise the doll’s upto no good soon enough but fail miserably to do anything about it.

There’s nothing really scary about Brahms. He’d fit right in to a tea time table with Winnie the Pooh and friends. It’s the things that happen around him and because of him that are creepy. But it’s all standard scare tactics. Jude is the scary one here, being almost possessed by the doll’s power and Convery does a great job. Alas, they never quite use him to horrifying effect.

Katie Holmes looks a bit haggard and hams her way through some of the film. There is an attempt at making her the kick ass lady who saves the day but it’s reduced to just a single moment at the end of this thankfully short film.

Brahms The Boy II should never have been made, it’s the same as the first one, and just as bad.