Evil Boy / Tvar (2019)

Evil Boy / Tvar (2019)

The Devil’s Child

“Evil Boy” is a kind of homage to well-known films about curses, even naming the possessed child after the same character, Damien.
Synopsis: Four years after the death of their son, a couple decides to adopt an orphaned boy. Strangely, he begins to resemble their deceased son.

I don’t think there is any greater pain than losing loved ones, especially if it’s a child.

I read lots of comments like:

1) They’re crazy to adopt a boy like that!

2) There’s nothing normal about this little boy, but they want to adopt him. That’s crazy!

3) That woman is completely crazy to choose a child like that!

So I decided to watch the movie to see what it was really about. Yes, despite the reviews, I still wanted to see it. Indeed, it almost feels like a parody, because no one would take a child like that unless they were crazy. It’s almost reminiscent of the antics in Scary Movie.

In this drama/horror film, the mother is convinced that he is some kind of reincarnation of their missing child, while the father suspects that he is actually possessed by demonic forces. But things change very quickly: the characters’ attitudes change completely. At first, it’s the mother who adores the child and the father who doesn’t want him. In less than twenty minutes, the situation is completely reversed: the mother no longer wants him and the father is having a blast with him.

The portrayal of the child is not always consistent. He is shown to us as a wild child who only screams, crawls on all fours, and remains barefoot at all times. He gradually evolves as he learns to speak and walk normally, but certain natural instincts remain clearly visible, and it seems that only the viewer can see them. His parents are completely oblivious.

This is not a gory film, if anything. The little blood we see is only from minor superficial wounds. This feature film is never really scary. What’s more, it has awful special effects, worthy of a bad video game, and states the obvious in a scenario that has been seen time and time again, if you are familiar with, among others, The Omen saga or, more recently, Brightburn (2019).

It’s a shame, because the first half hour was intriguing, with the couple grieving the loss of their only son. Between a predictable and tiresome storyline in the latter part and questionable effects (poorly done, as you can clearly see that it’s 2D), it’s fair to say that Tvar/Evil Boy completely misses its potential!

The dramatic tension initially captures the viewer’s interest (pain is explicitly at the center of the plot) before the script ends up tripping itself up! The confusion is such that it’s impossible to understand the film!

So, yes, from the outset, we think of The Omen (1976) and its 2006 remake. The son is called Damien, as in the film starring Gregory Peck. In other words, even if the script isn’t the same, the formula is. There is no surprise effect, and we know what to expect. The whole thing is boring, and the slow pace doesn’t change from beginning to end. It’s no comparison to Richard Donner’s film in terms of quality.

Of course, I also thought of the excellent Orphan (2009).

I found this comment: “After seeing several Russian films, I can confirm that their acting is as bad as the acting in Asian films. The same goes for the dubbing, which most of the time makes no sense in the continuity of the story, which adds to the film’s awfulness.”

It’s a pretty harsh comment, especially since, when it comes to Asians, it’s a completely different mentality and their overacting is part of their culture.

I also came across this other review, which is quite fun:

“Oh yeah! Really!!! My boyfriend and I spent the whole time frowning in incomprehension. I couldn’t say what was most distressing. The ”special” effects? The twisted and nonsensical story? Or perhaps the acting of the kid and his two parents, who had anything but normal human reactions. “Oh look, my demonic adopted son who just killed my baby and almost killed my wife is coming home covered in blood with my dead son’s watch? Let’s give him a quick shower! And let’s keep our emotions and logic to a minimum from start to finish.” It’s a disaster. But at least we had a laugh.”

To conclude:

This film perfectly illustrates the importance of starting your story well in order to engage and involve your audience, especially in a horror film. I didn’t believe in this broken couple who decide to take under their wing the last child in the world you would want to adopt. I found their actions and reactions at the beginning completely incoherent, and as a result, I didn’t really get into it for most of the film. Add to that the frankly mediocre special effects, especially in the last part, and you have a conventional genre film that misses the mark. Director Olga Gorodetskaya has completely missed the mark.

The child is certainly terrifying, although the young actor who plays Damien is unbearable, as he often overacts, and the story could have been really enjoyable, but even the ending is disappointing and doesn’t save anything. It’s sloppy as well as anticlimactic. What happens next? We’ll never know… We come away with the distinct impression of having watched this film for nothing, of having gotten nowhere. These Russian actors do not shine with their talent, and the French dubbing does not help matters. It is an auditory disaster. I don’t know if it is well dubbed in English, though.

The writing is almost bad from start to finish, while the direction was fairly decent, but everything else is constantly implausible, even absurd at times.

It’s a low-budget film, and it shows! But that’s no excuse: we’ve all seen excellent low-budget films. This one is completely dispensable and should be avoided!