THE BOOK OF HENRY: A Questionable Mishap For All Involved

Quirky indie dramas seem to draw me in quite often; though occasionally with outlandish premises, the best of them, at their heart, are very human stories. It’s part of what drew me in to last year’s Midnight Special or even Colin Trevorrow‘s own Safety Not Guaranteed.

The Book of Henry was initially much the same. The film, which consists of an extensive plot by a mother and son to kill the stepfather of a girl next door, does at first seem quite ludicrous. But if approached with the right amount of nuance and just enough self-awareness, I believe it could have worked.

Due to cold direction and emotionally distant characters, though, The Book of Henry never comes off as quirky or fun; it is, in actuality, quite excruciating to sit through.

Ludicrous Premise

The Book of Henry focuses on the unusual dynamic of the Carpenter family. We are at first introduced to 11-year-old Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), who lives in a suburban home with his younger brother Peter (Jacob Tremblay) and mother Susan (Naomi Watts). Gifted intellectually and mature beyond his years, Henry acts as a patriarchal figure in their family, and is not only a role model to his younger brother but also to his middle-aged mother, who often looks to him for financial and general life advice.

Soon, we are introduced to the central premise of the story: Henry, who has a crush on next door neighbor Christina Sickleman (Maddie Ziegler), is suspicious of the actions of Chistina’s stepfather Glenn (Dean Norris), who Henry believes abuses her behind closed doors. Yet due to not only being young but having no definitive proof, his continued accusations of Glenn are not taken seriously. So, it’s up to him, with the help of his mom, to take matters into their own hands and…murder their next door neighbor?

The sheer ridiculousness of this premise was somehow not reason enough to dissuade me from seeing the film. Before getting into the morally hazy questionings of a mother agreeing to murder someone at the request of her 11-year-old son, there are, surprisingly, even more glaring issues to examine in The Book of Henry.

First and foremost is the fact that the story is poorly paced and executed from the start, with little to no foreshadowing as to what will take place. Henry seems to have a heroic complex, that much is evident, but to stretch beyond the realms of reason into blatant cold-blooded murder is clearly a step too far, and one that doesn’t have the requisite buildup needed to bring the audience aboard. And to hearken back to my earlier statement, it is not only Henry himself who is okay with killing someone, but his mother as well, who somehow needs little convincing to bring his scheme into motion.

With little backing for it, once the underlying concept of The Book of Henry finally takes hold, in a line delivered through Jacob Tremblay‘s cute, high-pitched voice, the result is, as opposed to shockingly funny or self-aware, instead just more painfully unfitting. Even knowing where the film was headed before stepping into the theater, I still couldn’t quite believe that this is the direction it would take.

Cold Direction

One of the reasons I was drawn to The Book of Henry in the first place was because Colin Trevorrow was aboard as director. Ignoring the cookie-cutter franchise film that was Jurassic World, Trevorrow had a similarly fantastical concept to work with in his debut Safety Not Guaranteed. In that film, he is able to blend the science fiction element of time travel with a story that, at its heart, is very emotionally resonant. It was my sincere hope that he would approach this work in the same way.

Instead, The Book of Henry is notably distanced. The camera in Trevorrow‘s film is merely a bystander; there are few character moments or montages such as were so prominent in Safety Not Guaranteed. The score, helmed by the talented Michael Giacchino, is also lacking in personality, going strangely quiet during what could have been the film’s strongest emotional moments. I don’t always need to be told how to feel, but even emotional prodding would have been better than nothing.

It might seem strange to say that The Book of Henry would have worked better as a comedy-drama more like this year’s Gifted, but it’s likely a more well-suited tone given the bizarreness inherent in the story itself. The film is often overwhelmingly somber; for example, during the last few scenes when Naomi Watts‘ character is bringing about Henry’s murderous plan, and the film then subsequently becomes a semi-serious heist thriller. It’s not gripping in any way, though, because we as an audience still can’t wrap our heads around the idea that she is going to murder someone for what is essentially nothing more than here-say by her not even teenaged son. Movies in the past have made light of a dark scenario like this one, so it doesn’t seem completely improbable that Trevorrow‘s film could have followed suit.

Dry Characters

The characters of this film, Henry and Susan in particular, are given few sparks of charisma in general. It’s understandable that Henry is meant to be the mature, parental figure in his family, yet instead of having fun with this reversal of roles, instead he comes off as cold and unlikable. I wouldn’t place the fault on Jaeden Lieberher, since he played a similarly-stoic character in last year’s Midnight Special, but Trevorrow‘s direction makes him far too standoffish. Really, why miss out on the opportunity to make a smarty pants kid with a gift for inventions into a boring, emotionless robot?

An example of a scene which actually did work in the film is when Henry is trying to cheer up his younger brother after Peter was bullied on at school. In a fast-cutted sequence, Henry puts together an invention and an explorer outfit which makes it seem as if the outside hallway past their bedroom door is now the top of a snowy mountain, and he is attempting, in vain, to climb to its summit. It immediately puts a smile on Peter’s innocently cherubic face. Just as fast as it had begun, though, the scene is choppily cut short. With few scenes overall like this one, in the end it is unfortunately just a glimpse at what could have been.

Naomi Watts, talented as she is, is similarly wasted in this film. Despite the film’s overly serious tone, Watts plays the character with a campiness more fitting to the latest season of Twin Peaks. Whether you chalk this up to Watts’ performance or simply a miscasting on the part of the producers, either way her character also clashes with the film’s widely ranging tones.

Verdict

The Book of Henry might be troubling for some people due to its bizarre and morally reprehensible premise, yet the film is equally frustrating for its glaring structural flaws. Colin Trevorrow’s distanced direction does little to save the lack of fully-fleshed characters and the film’s absence of emotionally resonant moments. The Book of Henry might be brimming with talent, but in the end it’s probably better left unread.

What did you think of The Book of Henry? Tell us in the comments below!

The Book of Henry is now playing in the US and the UK. For all international release dates, see here.