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The Book of Henry

  • 2017
  • PG-13
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
30K
YOUR RATING
Dean Norris, Naomi Watts, Maddie Ziegler, Jacob Tremblay, and Jaeden Martell in The Book of Henry (2017)
Single suburban mother Susan Carpenter works as a waitress at a diner, alongside family friend Sheila. Her younger son Peter is a playful 8-year-old. Taking care of everyone and everything in his own unique way is Susan's older son Henry, age 11. Protector to his adoring younger brother and tireless supporter of his often self-doubting mother -- and, through investments, of the family as a whole -- Henry blazes through the days like a comet. Susan discovers that the family next door, which includes Henry's classmate Christina, has a dangerous secret -- and that Henry has devised a surprising plan to help. As his brainstormed rescue plan for Christina takes shape in thrilling ways, Susan finds herself at the center of it.
Play trailer2:23
28 Videos
95 Photos
CrimeDramaThriller

With instructions from her genius son's carefully crafted notebook, a single mother sets out to rescue a young girl from the hands of her abusive stepfather.With instructions from her genius son's carefully crafted notebook, a single mother sets out to rescue a young girl from the hands of her abusive stepfather.With instructions from her genius son's carefully crafted notebook, a single mother sets out to rescue a young girl from the hands of her abusive stepfather.

  • Director
    • Colin Trevorrow
  • Writer
    • Gregg Hurwitz
  • Stars
    • Naomi Watts
    • Jaeden Martell
    • Jacob Tremblay
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    30K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Colin Trevorrow
    • Writer
      • Gregg Hurwitz
    • Stars
      • Naomi Watts
      • Jaeden Martell
      • Jacob Tremblay
    • 189User reviews
    • 128Critic reviews
    • 31Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 3 nominations total

    Videos28

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:23
    Official Trailer
    Lucky  To  Have  You
    Clip 0:50
    Lucky To Have You
    Lucky  To  Have  You
    Clip 0:50
    Lucky To Have You
    Apathy
    Clip 1:03
    Apathy
    My Legacy
    Clip 0:42
    My Legacy
    Theyre So Drunk
    Clip 0:43
    Theyre So Drunk
    The Book Of Henry: Apathy
    Clip 0:59
    The Book Of Henry: Apathy

    Photos95

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    Top cast47

    Edit
    Naomi Watts
    Naomi Watts
    • Susan Carpenter
    Jaeden Martell
    Jaeden Martell
    • Henry Carpenter
    • (as Jaeden Lieberher)
    Jacob Tremblay
    Jacob Tremblay
    • Peter Carpenter
    Sarah Silverman
    Sarah Silverman
    • Sheila
    Dean Norris
    Dean Norris
    • Glenn Sickleman
    Lee Pace
    Lee Pace
    • Dr. David Daniels
    Maddie Ziegler
    Maddie Ziegler
    • Christina
    Tonya Pinkins
    Tonya Pinkins
    • Principal Wilder
    Bobby Moynihan
    Bobby Moynihan
    • John
    Geraldine Hughes
    Geraldine Hughes
    • Mrs. Evans
    Maxwell Simkins
    Maxwell Simkins
    • Tommy
    • (as Max Simkins)
    Jackson Nicoll
    Jackson Nicoll
    • Morris
    Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    • Nurse Leah
    Joel Marsh Garland
    Joel Marsh Garland
    • Big Ed
    Wass Stevens
    Wass Stevens
    • Gary
    Arthur French
    • Gus
    Mary Joy
    Mary Joy
    • Dot
    Zandi Holup
    Zandi Holup
    • Teenage Girl Customer
    • Director
      • Colin Trevorrow
    • Writer
      • Gregg Hurwitz
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews189

    6.630.1K
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    Featured reviews

    6doug_park2001

    "Violence isn't the worst thing in the world"

    "The Book of Henry" is definitely not for people who like taut, coherent, logical plots devoid of standard clichés. As others have noted, it's really all over the place, and its mix of silly comedy and tear-jerker tragedy, realism and fantasy, cuteness and horror, and so forth doesn't exactly pan out in the end. Still, if you enjoy films that are simply different experiences, emotionally stirring even if they require you to heavily suspend disbelief, perhaps lay it aside altogether, this film will probably prove worth seeing, and you may really love it. It certainly keeps your attention with numerous surprises and much suspense. Fine acting by Naomi Watts and just about everyone else, along with some stunning scenery of the upstate NY setting, also help this film. I am glad to have seen "The Book of Henry" and would like to give it a higher rating, but with all its issues, I just can't.
    7dermobreen

    I cried. Twice.

    It's been a while since a trailer threw me completely. The intent of a trailer is to entice the viewer in to seeing the film, to tickle your curiosity. The trailer for The Book of Henry did this admirably. Like a magician's sleight of hand, it provided misdirection too. Having seen the film, I left thinking that that was not what the trailer implied. Hats off to  editor, Kevin Stitt.

    The plot synopsis on IMDb.com, written by the distributors, Focus Features lays out the plot without spoilers:

    Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives. Single suburban mother Susan Carpenter (played by Naoimi Watts) works as a waitress at a diner, alongside feisty family friend Sheila (Sarah Silverman). Her younger son Peter (Jacob Tremblay, who we last saw in Room) is a playful 8-year-old. Taking care of everyone and everything in his own unique way is Susan's older son Henry (Jaden Lieberher), age 11. Protector to his adoring younger brother and tireless supporter of his often self-doubting mother - and, through investments, of the family as a whole - Henry blazes through the days like a comet. Susan discovers that the family next door, which includes Henry's kind classmate Christina, has a dangerous secret - and that Henry has devised a surprising plan to help. As his brainstormed rescue plan for Christina takes shape in thrilling ways, Susan finds herself at the centre of it.

    This is Colin Trevorrow's second feature and he has crafted a warm, charming, sometimes despair-filled film that ultimately brings a message of hope. Good triumphs over evil in the end, as it should in most films.  

    Critics have been very harsh in their reviews. Some decry being emotionally manipulated! Is that not the whole point of going to see a film? Audience reactions are more favourable.

    My reaction? I cried. Twice.

    A very enjoyable and competent film: 3.5 out of 5
    7peterp-450-298716

    I'm convinced I'm the only one who thought this wasn't so bad

    "Violence isn't the worst thing in the world. What is then? Apathy."

    I'm sure that some movie critics of reputable newspapers ("The Guardian" and the like) and magazines are awful, out-of-touch guys, who pine away on a dusty attic avoiding any contact with other human individuals. Pessimists who cringe at the sign of a bit of emotions and sugar-sweet feelgood moods and hide like a slug that encounters a grain of salt on her path. The result is an allergic reaction of disgust and aversion, after which they begin to spit their guts and criticize the targeted object. Is "The Book of Henry" really overly-sentimental? Is it so sugary that your blood glucose levels suddenly go berserk? Is it so un-freakin-believable that a Jerry Springer show looks like a realistic show? And does the second part of the movie about revenging a child molester feel extremely exaggerated? Maybe yes. However, calling this film the biggest crap of the year, demonstrates shortsightedness and empathy similar to that of a mummified Egyptian pharaoh.

    Whatever they claim, "The Book of Henry" is an amiable and entertaining evening filler. Something I'm yearning for after an endless series of nerve-racking or extremely serious movies where you need to stay focused, so you won't lose the thread after another plot-twist. I admit I watched the first chapter with more pleasure than the second chapter. Not because of the acting. But content-wise it was sometimes a bit too much and after a while it lost a bit of its credibility. For instance. I doubt you can buy a high-tech sniper rifle in the U.S. just by saying some obscure name and waving with a bundle of dollar bills. Let's skip the formalities! And someone calling the authorities after seeing an emotional performance of a ballet dancer, was quite bizarre. Especially when bruises and the timid behavior of the girl herself (plus Henry's testimonies) didn't ring any bells before.

    You can say the film is kind of bizarre. Not only because of the family situation in which the Carpenter family finds itself. That's already extremely strange. Also the sudden twist in the middle of the story is bit of uncommon. Not often a main character leaves the story so early. Even though he isn't completely out of the picture. And that's why I'm talking about two chapters. The "pre" and "post" Henry period. Perhaps the mix of genres is a cause for criticism. At first, it looks like an innocent youth movie. Then it goes from a melodrama to a thriller with a revenge motive. Granted, that might be too much as well.

    I enjoyed the acting the most. Jaeden Lieberher as bright Henry. A young boy looking at the world with very different eyes due to his unimaginable intelligence and at the same time he's still like an average, everyday boy. The way in which he confronts his classmates with the real facts is both sobering as extremely funny. Lieberher plays this with seemingly little effort. A brilliant mind but played in such a way that he remains human. Only I thought that his cartoonish machine he designed, using wires, hammers and wooden mechanisms, was quite contradictory to his high intellectual abilities. Naomi Watts (gorgeous role in "Demolition" by the way) is a known quantity, although she's acted of the screen a bit by her dominant son and all she seems to be doing is hitting the buttons on her PS4 controller. Even in the second chapter, Henry is holding her hand and is in charge of everything. But especially Jacob Tremblay, as the younger brother Peter, really surprised me. Not because of his impact on the story. But the professionalism he displays in shaping his personality. A likable and highly amusing character. Maddie Ziegler knew how to play the emotionally broken neighbor girl in a sublime way. A rendition in which the repressed emotions impressed more than Henry's occasional hyper-kinetic behavior.

    Perhaps it's my age that makes me more melancholic and I'm touched much faster. However, I think most viewers approach this movie in a wrong way. I read somewhere that Henry's preconceived plan (which he has worked out in detail in his red booklet) is the opposite of his intellectual ability. A burst in his wisdom because it's revenge he's after. However, perhaps this was the only solution he could come up with after deductive and analytical reasoning. How does anyone react when witnessing that a criminal offense goes unpunished? And legal measures don't have the desired effect? Perhaps it takes more time for average intelligent people to come to the same conclusion.

    I'm afraid I'm the only one with a positive opinion about this movie. Apparently, I like to root for the underdogs among movies. I'm sure that critics and opponents of "The book of Henry" will say that Trevorrow, after this cinematic adventure, delivered better work in the more realistic blockbuster "Episode IX". Even if he would add a scene with Chewbacca, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker dancing the can-can, these experts of stories on celluloid will probably approve it and claim that the man has added a willful interpretation to the Star Wars story. But he mustn't give in to willfulness when it comes to other movies (grinding teeth intonation). I am pleased that rebellious movies like "The Book of Henry" are made in Hollywood and not only the sometimes saltless crap that's being released. Because those are the movies where I say "Well, this was a great movie" when it's finished.

    More reviews here : http://bit.ly/2qtGQoc
    10mark_oflaherty

    Untold treasure.

    Has you laughing and crying, very human. Didn't know what to expect when I started watching this, stumbled upon the title. The richness of the characters, you could feel the love in the family through the acting.
    8rustonreviews

    Seriously underrated, and a great example of a filmmaker breaking all the conventional rules.

    It's a rare occurrence in which I heavily disagree with critical responses to films. I had no idea what The Book of Henry was about. I hadn't watched a trailer and I hadn't read the IMDb synopsis. Save for watching a web critic's review (which was stunningly brief in plot description), I knew nothing going into this except that it was directed by Jurassic World's Colin Trevorrow, the man at the helm of 2019's Star Wars Episode IX. If I had seen the overwhelmingly negative reviews for this film prior to trekking down to the cinema to see it, I probably would have skipped out. Then again, it was either this or Transformers: The Last Knight, and I know well enough by now not to see a film with Michael Bay's name attached to it. But, here we are, I've seen The Book of Henry, and I really like it, disagreeing with the negative critical reception it has received.

    It's difficult to dive too much into the plot of the film. That's not because it's hard to follow, but it fares better the less you know about it. Henry (Lieberher) is a kid genius. Inventive and constantly thinking, Henry is the man of the house. He looks out for his little brother Peter (Tremblay) at school and even provides guidance for his video game playing, picture book creating mother Susan (Watts), and going as far to even take charge of their financing. When he suspects that his next door neighbor and fellow classmate is being psychically abused by her stepfather, he takes it into his own hands to save her. And that's all I'm going to say, because the less you know the better.

    I'm quite surprised by how many critics have trashed this. Naomi Watts is on top form here and carries the emotional weight of the film, and Jacob Tremblay (of last year's excellent Room) is again fantastic albeit playing a smaller role. Lieberher completely sells it as Henry and is likable as the title character. Michael Giacchino (composer of films like Inside Out and Rogue One) creates a beautiful score that fits the film perfectly, and Trevorrow's direction keeps the film afloat despite a few screenplay misfires. For the most part, the script works despite its somewhat unconventional narrative, but I found it continuously unpredictable and responded heavily to the performances, especially Watts. There are a few small misfires but on the whole, it works in its own peculiar way, and the film is beautifully shot.

    Whilst The Book of Henry is certainly not for everyone, it had me from the get go. I was at first concerned with Trevorrow being the director for Star Wars Episode IX, but now I'm intrigued to see where he takes it. I'm grateful not to have known anything about this film before letting myself become absorbed by it, and I thought about it for a long while afterwards. On this rare occasion, ignore the bad buzz and give it a go.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film was shot in 36 days.
    • Goofs
      Henry is seen using a payphone to make stock trades. He is using fractions. While it could be just his personality/condition, US markets switched to decimals on April 9, 2001. Later in the movie the doctor shows the MRI scan on a tablet too advanced for pre-2001.
    • Quotes

      Susan Carpenter: I didn't want things to get violent.

      Henry Carpenter: Violence isn't the worst thing in the world.

      Susan Carpenter: What is then?

      Henry Carpenter: Apathy.

    • Alternate versions
      The film was shot for the Univisium aspect ratio of 2.00:1, but was presented theatrically in the standard 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The Univisium ratio is preserved on the home video release of the film.
    • Connections
      Featured in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Naomi Watts/Hank Azaria/BNQT/Mark Guiliana (2017)
    • Soundtracks
      Blues Wine
      Written and Performed by Brendan Leong

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    FAQ20

    • How long is The Book of Henry?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 23, 2017 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Cuốn Sách Của Henry
    • Filming locations
      • Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA(Location)
    • Production companies
      • Double Nickel Entertainment
      • Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $10,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $4,504,974
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $1,424,540
      • Jun 18, 2017
    • Gross worldwide
      • $4,596,705
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 45 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • Dolby Atmos
      • Dolby Surround 7.1
      • Auro 11.1
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.00 : 1

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