The Book of Henry (2017) poster
2017 · drama · thriller · mystery

The Book of Henry

Directed by Colin Trevorrow1h 45m2017
ElsewhereIMDb6.630kRT21%Metacritic31
  • sombre
  • intense
  • inventive
  • twisty
Movie DNA

Sombre, kinetic, measured drama / thriller, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

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Susan, a single mother of two, works as a waitress in a small town. Her son, Henry, is an 11-year-old genius who not only manages the family finances but acts as emotional support for his mother and younger brother. When Henry discovers that the girl next door has a terrible secret, he implores Susan to take matters into her own hands.

Our read · The Book of Henry (2017) reads as a sombre, kinetic, inventive drama · thriller · mystery entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

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The shape of The Book of Henry

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want a tonal whiplash drama about a boy genius and dark secrets.

ends devastatingit will wreck youbuilds to a gut-punch finalegrips by minute 20attention 4/5earns its length
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upchild perilsuicide themegraphic violence

Skip it tonightSkip if child illness, abuse themes, and off-screen suicide will wreck you.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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