Nightbooks (2021)
Genre: Family / Fantasy
Duration: 103 minuten
Alternative titles: Boeken van de Nacht / Nachtboeken
Country:
United States
Directed by: David Yarovesky
Stars: Winslow Fegley, Lidya Jewett and Krysten Ritter
IMDb score:
5,8 (11.614)
Releasedate: 15 September 2021
Nightbooks plot
"Write for your life."
Alex, a boy obsessed with scary stories, is trapped in a witch's modern, magical apartment in New York. To stay alive, he must tell her a chilling story every night. He wants to escape and gets help from the girl Yasmin, who has also been captured by the witch.
Reviews & comments
tattoobob
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- 8206 messages
- 2586 votes
A fantastically fun film for the smaller horror fans...and definitely the bigger ones too.
Tension and humor alternate at a rapid pace.
You can clearly see that Raimi stirred this with a spoon, very cool.
Bring on part two.
Translated from Dutch · View original
scorsese
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- 13430 messages
- 11265 votes
A decent film about a boy locked in a witch's apartment and forced to read scary stories. An entertaining film about scary stories and fairy tales that will undoubtedly resonate with its target audience (young teens). The house is dark and atmospherically decorated. Clearly made with a love for the genre.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Shadowed
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- 11558 messages
- 6803 votes
Amusing Yarovesky.
But for a director who started out so brilliantly, his films are increasingly declining. This film is still a good enough grade because Yarovesky still manages to inject some idiosyncrasy, but I think it would be better if he stopped taking childish excursions, because he's clearly becoming limited.
Limitations also hold this film back in the final rating, because the stylistic exercises Yarovesky uses during the reading scenes show a lot of potential. The pity is that you hardly see these stylistic exercises, which squanders the film's unique opportunity for great variety. The foundation is there, and although you shouldn't expect much suspense, it always remains lighthearted.
The acting is quite good. Ritter's performance was expected to be enjoyable, albeit theatrical, but that's part of the story. The real surprise was Fegley, who manages to express his emotions effectively and touched me in the process. The chemistry between the children could have been better, but that doesn't spoil the fun.
Thanks to a stylized approach to the backgrounds and set design, Nightbooks never falls short in its presentation. Cinematographically, this is a very competent film with some nice tricks here and there. The humor isn't brilliant, but the beautiful look quickly captivated me and carried me along, despite a few minor irritations.
It's especially unfortunate that the film can't really pull out all the stops with its monster and story variations, and I also think Yarovesky was hampered by Netflix itself, or perhaps the book. He proved with his first film, The Hive, that his head is teeming with creativity. It's becoming increasingly difficult to see that in his other films, so here's hoping he's back on track.
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