Craig William Macneill
THE BOY
2015, Feature Film
PRESS
"A feature stunning to behold"
"Utterly hypnotic...Macneill's screenplay (co-written by Clay McCleod Chapman) subtly fleshes out the tattered details responsible for Ted's mania with grimly poetic understatement worthy of Cormac McCarthy."
"Craig William Macneill’s THE BOY carries its audience along on an ominous journey into the mind of a young boy with a proclivity for anger and violence."
"Macneill’s disinterest in making a traditional slasher, let alone an iconic one, ultimately ends up with one of the most memorable contemporary iterations."
"slow burn horror at its most poetic, possessing the rare ability to truly unsettle."
"It's great, it's creepy, it's got a jet-black third act that'll have you squirming in your seat, and just about everything-- from the cast and the script to the set design and the cinematography-- works."
"A unique little beast. Let the dark, broody tone suck you in."
"Haunting, calculated and confident."
"The dark heart that propels The Boy is the impossibly assured direction of Craig William Macneill"
Brutal, beautifully shot slow-burn about a kid's descent into madness. So unsettling, it dares you to love it. And I did ”
- Erik Davis, Fandango
Birth. Death. Movies reviews THE BOY “Slow-burn horror done right.”
In its unremitting sense that anything bad could happen at any moment, The Boy manages to ladle even afternoon pool lounging with sinister portent."
- Carson Lund, Slant Magazine
"enormously compelling and deliciously tense"
LOGLINE
THE BOY is an intimate portrait of a 9-year-old sociopath's growing fascination with death.
SYNOPSIS
It’s the summer of 1989. 9-year-old Ted Henley (Jared Breeze) and his father John (David Morse) are the proprietors of The Mt. Vista Motel, a crumbling resort buried in the mountains of the American West. Since Ted's mother left, John has drifted into despondency—leaving Ted to fend for himself. In this isolation, unchecked by the bounds of parenting, Ted’s darker impulses begin to manifest. The arrival of a mysterious drifter, William Colby (Rainn Wilson), captivates young Ted and the two form a unique friendship - setting the stage for Ted’s final, unnerving metamorphosis. THE BOY is a chilling, intimate portrait of a 9-year-old sociopath's growing fascination with death.
CAST
David Morse, Rainn Wilson, Jared Breeze, Bill Sage, Mike Vogel, Zuleikha Robinson, Aiden Lovekamp, David Valencia
FESTIVALS
Premiering in competition at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival
European premiere at the 2015 BFI London Film Festival
In competition at the 2015 Sitges International Film Festival