The Boy Behind the Door Review

4 star thoroughly satisfying kidnapping tale.

The Boy Behind the Door is written and directed by David Charbonier and Justin Powell and is their stunning and very bold directorial debut.

Following highly successful appearances at Fantastic Fest and AFI Fest it is now available to stream exclusively on Shudder.

It’s okay. You don’t have to hide from me. I just wanna talk. I’m not gonna hurt you, don’t be shy now. You can come out, it’s okay.”

Best friends Bobby (Lonnie Chavis – This Is Us, The Water Man) and Kevin (Ezra Dewey – Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders) are having a lovely afternoon in the sunshine. They vow to be friends to the end and dream about their futures. On the way to a baseball game they are playing catch when the ball rolls off down a hill and into some undergrowth.

Kevin runs to retrieve it but takes far too long and when Bobby goes to investigate he is clouted round the back of the head and knocked unconscious. When he comes to, he finds himself locked in the boot of a car.

He cleverly manages to escape and is about to run away, when he hears Kevin call for help and remembers his promise.

Determined to save his friend and with the advantage of surprise on his side, Bobby sets about making a plan. However, inevitably he is discovered, leaving him to need every skill at his disposal to stay one step ahead of his captor (Micah Hauptman – Everest, Parker) and save Kevin.

The Boy Behind the Door is a brilliantly written film, very clever and tense right from the start. There are several pretty shocking twists and the ending is really good too. It is an epic game of cat and mouse and you never really know who is going to get the upper hand.

The acting is excellent as well, the young boys are very believable and Bobby certainly has some next level survival instincts.

In films such as this you usually spend half your time wondering why the character doesn’t do the obvious with the items he finds around him or her. Here, very satisfyingly they make full use of the environment around them.

Fresh and exciting, this is a great debut and I can’t wait to see more from this talented duo.

“You know, I never really planned on taking you out of that trunk. I figured you’d suck all the air out and that would be the end of it. But here we are.”