Despite Rob Savage having beforehand solely directed decrease finances movies (two of which have been constrained by the pandemic), “The Boogeyman” is an eerie and efficient Stephen King adaptation that proves the filmmaker has the chops to amplify finances stuff. But a big a part of what makes the film work is the performances, with Chris Messina delivering a wonderfully pitched portrayal of a widowed therapist struggling within the wake of his spouse’s dying. Meanwhile, Sophie Thatcher and Vivien Lyra Blair as his two daughters, Sadie and Sawyer, additionally present efficient performances as their characters deal with the lack of their mom and, after all, the titular supernatural beast.
For Thatcher, preparation was essential, if solely to ensure she may present as plausible an outline of grief as doable. Speaking to ScreenRant, the actor revealed that she noticed Sadie as a “very different person” previous to dropping her mom, and centered on constructing a way of who she was “before her grieving process.” She added:
“I made a playlist for her so I can kind of live in her headspace. I don’t think it was necessarily what she would listen to, but it was songs that would get me to what she was feeling. So that was important for me. But also just building what she was like with her friends before. It wasn’t that she was a total loner, but this has forced her more into isolation because she feels disconnected from everybody.”