The Boogeyman

What’s it about?

Sadie and Sawyer are only just returning to school after the tragic death of their mother. When a disturbed man comes to their father’s home psychology clinic, he opens the door to a monster who will feed on their grief and fear.

The facts

• Based on a short story by Stephen King
• Runtime: 98 minutes

Why did it get this rating?

Horror

There is a sustained sense of horror and threat throughout the film. Horror elements include jump scares, dark settings and a monstrous creature that terrorises its victims, ‘playing with its food’ to suck on their life force.

The monster is large and insectile with a toothy mouth that drips saliva and blood. It disguises itself in domestic spaces, playing with lights and making the home feel unsafe.

The monster uses human voices to whisper to its victims and lure them into the dark. It tackles and throws its victims around but this happens off-screen with the viewer only seeing the aftermath. A man’s leg is broken but no wound detail is shown.

Part of the horror is psychological – children are not believed because ‘monsters aren’t real’.

Suicide references

The monster kills a man in a manner that looks like suicide by hanging. Law enforcement treat it as a suicide.

Drug use

Teen girls smoke marijuana. It doesn’t look very fun and as a consequence, Sadie’s father doesn’t believe that she saw the monster.

Cruelty

A teen girl is bullied by other teen girls.

Coarse language

The film contains occasional coarse language, including the words “b**ch”, “sh*t” and “sh**ty”. The phrase “f**k you” is used once to address the monster.

A member of our Youth Advisory Panel attended the screening as part of the classification and rating process. They felt the strongest element of the horror was psychological – when characters’ fears weren’t taken seriously. They supported an age rating of R13 and a content warning for horror, suicide references and drug use.

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?