This on many levels is what the Boogeyman movie should have been. It also feels very seasonally appropriate, dripping with pumpkins, halloween imagery and October weather, despite its unfortunate initial release of mid-july. This feels like a very spirited Halloween film, in the vein of Trick R. Treat or a Sam Raimi film. The way it is shot and framed oozes with a surrealness and ominous atmosphere, while leaning into an almost hyperrealism. It is framed to present a child’s perspective, and there’s a sense of dark fantasy, fairy-tale aura about proceedings. It is one of the rare films where jump scares and dream sequence fakeouts feel thematically appropriate, and land rather well. The acting by Antony Starr and Lizzy Caplan is spot on, conveying the gamut between parental concern and quiet menace, never quite knowing what they are thinking or how they are motivated. The reveal is certainly far from what the movie was building to, and likely far from what the audience might be expecting. It turns the entire movie on its head, yet a lot of the buildup and symbolism make sense in retrospect. The last act will certainly be divisive and possibly alienate audience members, but if the audience is willing to accept the crazier elements of this film, it is a supremely fun ride.