Nightbooks

Nightbooks

Alex, a boy obsessed with scary stories, is trapped by a witch in her modern, magical New York City apartment. His original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping him safe as he desperately tries to find a way out of this twisted place.

  • Released: 2021-09-15
  • Runtime: 103 minutes
  • Genre: Family, Fantasy, Horror
  • Stars: Winslow Fegley, Lidya Jewett, Krysten Ritter, Luxton Handspiker, Liam Couvion, Eden Gjoka, Jill Frappier, Neil Emmanuel Lu, Jess Brown, Mathieu Bourassa, Khiyla Aynne, Stephen R. Hart, Miley Haik, Taylor Belle Puterman, Riley O'Donnell, Evan O'Donnell, Jess Brown
  • Director: David Yarovesky
 Comments
  • BarneyGrapes - 13 April 2023
    Missed potential
    This film just annoyed me. It had some great potential, but just missed on all gears.

    The acting was mediocre to bad. The lead boy was awful. Or maybe it was just the director. Would have to see the young actor in other films since often directors can sabotage good actors.

    There were some interesting scenes that were poorly developed. The forest, and where it lead, could have been much better developed. This part had some serious potential, but they just passed on a tremendous opportunity to develop it more and potentially save this film.

    The character development just felt shallow and contrived. Both the witch and the boy. A slower start would have been much nicer, with the reason for his sadness being revealed at the beginning rather than being revealed near the end as a bit of a letdown. Would have related to him more if we could have shared his journey throughout the movie rather than them making it a "big" reveal at the end that ultimately wasn't a big trauma, but something almost all children experience. Again, we would have cared about him more throughout the movie if they started with the source of his sadness. But in the end, the actor wouldn't have been able to carry it without better direction.

    The Lip Service to Lost Boys was really contrived as well. This had absolutely zero fit with this film and felt more like self indulgence by the director or producers. I loved Lost Boys when I was younger, and recall it as a much better movie than this could ever be. The music in Lost Boys was amazing, but once again, doesn't fit this film at all.

    I did get through this movie, but by 2/3rds of the way through, I was really ready for it to end. Read the Magicians Nephew instead. Much better use of your time, and much more interesting witches and children.
  • rpalarczyk - 19 May 2022
    Enjoyable
    As we get older, sometimes you just wanna sit back and watch something that's not too complicated. And this was ok for me. This was definitely made for young adults. I found it enjoyable. It will never win any awards. But then again most movies don't.
  • ronhman-26135 - 7 November 2021
    This is NOT a family/kids movie!
    This is a horror film with kids in it! We watched with our 8 year old daughter and she had nightmares! Definitely not a family movie night type.... Would absolutely not recommend for family with kids under 12.