Now Showing: Boy's Life

 

Boy's Life

Genre: Mystery/Horror

Director: Benh Zeitlin

Writer: Eden Townsend

Based on the novel by Robert R. McCammon

Cast: Julian Hilliard, Josh Hartnett, Annabelle Wallis, Dane DeHaan, Iain Armitage, John James Cronin, Roman Griffin Davis, Alfre Woodard, Christoph Waltz, Noel Fisher, Harry Melling, Hayden Christensen

Plot:

1964, Zephyr, Alabama

Cory Mackenson (Julian Hilliard) is awakened by his father Tom (Josh Hartnett) to help with the morning milk delivery. A car darts in front of them and plunges into Saxon's Lake. Cory's father jumps out of the milk truck and dives into the lake, hoping to rescue the driver. However, the driver's already dead, beaten and strangled, handcuffed to the steering wheel. While watching his father struggling, Cory sees someone watching. Cory turns to call his father, but the person disappears. Tom climbs out of the lake and takes Cory to the nearest house, calling the police. As they wait, Cory finds a green feather under his shoe.

Cory hides the green feather in a box. A few days later, the sheriff visits Tom, telling him he couldn't find the missing man's records. Tom's disappointed to realize the case's now closed. Over the next few months, Cory realizes that his father has nightmares.

Cory and his friend, Ben Sears (Roman Griffin Davis), go to the movies. The first movie is a Tarzan flick, but the second is an alien movie. Cory and Ben are disappointed at first but are scared by the plot that follows a young boy who knows aliens are taking over everyone in town. Still, he cannot get anyone to believe him. Cory goes home and refuses to tell his parents about the movie. Rebecca Mackenson (Annabelle Wallis) wonders if Cory and Ben fought, so she arranges to spend the night together at Ben's.

A few days before Easter, Cory goes to watch the parade made of the black community. The parade is held every spring in a ceremony that brings food to the creature known as Old Moses. The Lady (Alfre Woodard), the unofficial leader of Bruton, drops tons of food into the river to feed Old Moses. On Sunday morning, Cory goes to church with his parents and grandparents. During the sermon, the church becomes overheated. The church is filled with wasps, and the congregants are stung over and over before they finally escape.

The dam upriver has broken, and Bruton is about to flood. The town alarm goes off, calling everyone to the courthouse. The town leaders want everyone to help build a temporary barricade to save the town. There's some resistance by citizens who don't believe they'd waste their time helping many black people. Vernon Thaxter (Dane DeHaan) arrives naked and tells the citizens they'll receive preferential treatment when it's time to review their accounts at his father's bank. Everyone from Zephyr goes to Bruton.

Cory sits on the river's shore and sees a man with a green feather in a hat. Cory's afraid that the man's the killer about to kill his father but can't convince anyone of that fact. Instead, Cory finds himself dragged off to help his mother assist a woman whose father has a heart attack. As he waits, Cory becomes aware of a creature that's floated into the house. Cory grabs a broom and protects himself by shoving the broom into the creature's mouth.

The word that Cory fought Old Moses and won spreads all over town. Cory is informed that The Lady wants to speak with him. Tom's unhappy with this invitation refusing to go. The Lady asks Cory what he might like for a reward. Cory asks for a new bike, and The Lady promises to give him one. The Lady then asks Rebecca about Tom's nightmares. When Rebecca confirms he's having nightmares, the Lady encourages Rebecca to bring Tom to her so that she can help him figure out his dreams.

Cory returns home to discover a new bike has been delivered. Cory's so excited he goes for a ride immediately. Cory rides too fast and falls off the bike. When Cory checks the bike for damage, he discovers what he believes is a golden eye in the headlamp. Cory also discovers that if he'd fallen any later, he would've been cut by a broken bottle, so he believes the bike spilled on purpose.

Cory spends most of one day working on a story for a writing contest. Cory needs help picking a subject but finally writes about the dead man in Saxon's Lake. Cory shows the story to his father, who's surprised to learn of the figure Cory saw watching them. At first, Tom refuses to allow Cory to submit the story but changes his mind. A couple of nights later, Cory asks permission to go camping alone with his buddies. Cory's mother refuses immediately, but Cory's father considers the idea. Finally, Tom decides that Cory's old enough even though his mother's still reluctant. Davy Ray and Ben get permission, but Johnny cannot go.

The boys go deep into the woods, walking most of the day and late into the evening until they find the perfect camping spot. The boys make a fire, and then Cory tells them a story. As they listen, Davy Ray sees lights in the woods. Suddenly a car passes them on a dirt road they hadn't noticed. Davy Ray decides to follow the car, so the others follow him. The boys hide in the bushes and watch two hooded men buying something from Biggun Blaylock (Harry Melling). Ben becomes nervous and gives away their location in a minute by screaming about spiders crawling on him. The boys run, and the Blaylock boys follow. Cory's separated from the others but manages to hide all night. When they return to town, Cory tells the sheriff what he saw. The sheriff, however, tells them there's nothing he can do because he needs to know where to find Biggun Blaylock.

School has begun again. One day after school, Cory returns home and learns that the mayor wants to see him. Cory goes to the mayor's office and answers questions about his story. It is raining outside, so the secretary returns to borrow an umbrella. When she searches the closet in the mayor's office, Cory sees the hat with the green feather that he saw the night of the flood. The hat's feather matches the one from Saxon's Lake. Cory becomes convinced the mayor is the killer. When the power goes out due to the storm, Cory panics and runs out of the building. The mayor's confused and concerned that Cory has a mental problem.

Cory must attend a ceremony and read his story aloud to receive his plaque. Cory is nervous, especially when all his friends arrive. However, Cory gets up and reads the story, finding himself fascinated with the awe his story appears to have over the crowd. Afterward, the Lady comes up and congratulates Cory. Once again, she convinces Tom Mackenson to see her about his dreams. However, Tom continues to resist. Finally, the Lady tells them about the museum she's raising money for in Bruton, showcasing black history.

A butler from the Thaxter mansion invites Cory to have dinner with Vernon Thaxter. Cory's father will only agree as long as he can go along. Cory and his father find Vernon playing with an elaborate train set that resembles Zephyr. When it's dinner, Tom's relegated to the kitchen while Cory dines with Vernon in the dining room. Vernon talks about the book he wrote. The book did poorly, and Vernon was forced to admit his father was right about his writing.

One fall afternoon, Cory returns home from school and learns that his dog was hit by a car. Cory goes to the office of Dr. Lezander (Christoph Waltz) and learns that the damage is so severe that the doctor can't help. Dr. Lezander asks Tom to sign the release to have the dog put down. Before he does, Cory asks to see the dog. Cory cries on the floor, begging death to leave his dog alone. The dog stops breathing.

It's October, and Cory is delivering a pie to the Lezanders. However, Cory learns that the Lezanders are allergic to milk and cannot have the pie. Cory recalls something Vernon Thaxter said about Saxon's Lake killer. Vernon said the killer must not drink milk because he didn't think about the milkman being out at dawn and must be a night person, which Cory also learns Dr. Lezander is. As Cory thinks this over, Donny Blaylock forces him into his car. They begin driving on Highway 10, where Little Stevie Cauley died. Cory becomes aware of Midnight Mona behind them. Donny admits to running Little Stevie off the road in shock and fear. Donny says that his family pays the sheriff to leave them alone. As Donny continues to drive too fast along the road, Little Stevie Cauley drives up against his fender. Little Stevie forces them off the road.

The sheriff has arrested Donny Blaylock but has also admitted to taking bribes from the Blaylocks. The sheriff is leaving town in disgrace, and a new sheriff will be appointed. However, the sheriff wants to be sure the state police come to get Donny Blaylock safely. The sheriff asks Tom for help. Tom initially refuses, but when he sees Cory's reaction, Tom changes his mind. The state cops arrive via the Trailways bus; Cory goes to the gas station, where the bus stops to watch. A few minutes later, the sheriff arrives with the fire chief, and Tom and the Moon Man, the Lady's husband. A few minutes after the bus is due to arrive, the sheriff orders Cory to come home. Instead, Cory hides behind some tires. The Blaylocks arrive and begin shooting. Suddenly the Moon Man approaches Biggun Blaylock and speaks to him. Biggun starts to fire his weapon, but it is jammed. It turns out all the bullets have turned into small green garden snakes.

The Blaylocks go to jail, and the sheriff moves on. The Brandywine Carnival comes to town. Cory and his friends go to the carnival, overeat junk food, go to the haunted house, and go through the freak shows. Cory sees an attraction he is curious about and talks his friends into going. Inside they find a creature that looks like a triceratops. Davy Ray is sickened by the abuse and the horrible conditions in which the animal is kept. When Cory hears that the creature escaped its pen the following day, he believes Davy Ray sprang it.

Cory learns his father has lost his job. Cory goes to Saxon's Lake, where his father sits alone, drinks grape juice, and thinks about his life. Tom has reached the end of his rope, no longer sure he can continue to cope with his dreams and reality. Cory thinks of telling him his suspicions about Dr. Lezander but thinks this is the wrong time. On his way home, Cory learns that Davy Ray tripped while hunting with his father, and his gun went off at the hospital. They wait for Davy Ray to get out of surgery most of the night. Cory sees him in recovery and tells him a story about a solitary traveler who can go anywhere just by thinking of where he wants to go. The following morning, Davy Ray dies.

Cory struggles to understand Davy Ray's death. Cory's mother tells him that Davy Ray has gone to a better place but cannot explain how she knows this. The preacher tells Cory he must accept that Davy Ray is better off because of faith. Cory still does not understand. At school, the teacher begins picking on Cory. Cory becomes angry and hits the teacher. Cory is suspended and told to write an apology, which Cory refuses. That night Cory goes to visit Davy Ray's grave. While there, Cory dreams that he jumped a train and went to the big city, but he sees horrible things and realizes he isn't old enough to go there alone. When Cory wakes, he realizes home is not such a wrong place. The following morning, Cory is told that his suspension has been lifted because of calls about the teacher.

The Mackensons are invited to a reception for the Lady in Bruton. While there, Cory and his mother get a personal tour of the new museum that'll open the day after Christmas. While looking at a picture of the girls who died in a church bombing, he realizes they are the identical girls he has dreamed about for months. Cory puts something together from the dreams and tells the Lady, looking at the picture.

On Christmas Eve, a plane from the local air force base flies low over Zephyr and drops a bomb on a house. The mayor orders an evacuation of both Zephyr and Bruton. Tom sends his family to Rebecca's parents and then goes to the bombed house. As Tom and the new sheriff study the situation, attempting to figure out how to free Moultry from his basement, where he is trapped under the bomb by falling debris. The bomb is accidentally triggered by a falling Christmas ornament, causing it to begin ticking. Tom and the sheriff quickly leave. However, Tom insists they go to the Lady to ask for help.

Tom finally agrees to visit the Lady. The Lady asks him about his dreams. When Tom tells her that he often hears the dead man telling him to join him down in the dark, the Lady tells him the man isn't talking to him but the killer. A tremendous burden lifts off Tom's shoulders. Then the Lady pricks Tom's finger and has him drip eight drops of blood on the same paper she dropped another eight of her blood on. The Lady has Tom crumple the paper. When she opens it, the Lady draws a line between the drops and makes two threes. The Lady tells Tom these threes are clues to the killer's identity. Tom begins the next day trying to find people who live at addresses with thirty-three. When this does not work, Tom gets gas while thinking of the following. Tom learns that the Trailways bus is number thirty-three at the gas station. Tom takes a job at the station while waiting to see who might get off the bus in Zephyr.

January comes. Cory is supposed to go to the movies but stops by the Lezanders first. Dr. Lezander gets up and asks Cory to speak with him in his office. Dr. Lezander offers Cory a job for twenty dollars a week in exchange for Cory returning the green feather to him. At the same time, two people get off the Trailways bus for the first time. Tom offers them a ride into town, stopping for lunch. Over lunch, Tom learns they're looking for a man named Hannaford, the brother of one of the men. It turns out Hannaford was a neo-Nazi who helped relocate a couple of Nazi soldiers in Zephyr. Hannaford came to blackmail the Nazis for money to start a new life. The older men then tell how these Nazis worked in a concentration camp and decide who'd live or die.

Tom recognizes some traits of the Nazis and directs the men to the Lezander home. When they arrive, Cory cries out to his father. Lezander forces Cory into his car in an attempt to escape. They are followed through town and up toward Saxon's Lake. As they approach the lake, the triceratops comes out of the woods and rams the car, forcing it into the lake. Lezander is pinned, but he helps Cory out of the car so his father can save him.

Cory (Hayden Christensen) is now in his late thirties. Cory and his family left Zephyr in 1966 to find work in Birmingham. The family did well there, but Cory's father died in 1978 of cancer. Cory's mother remarried and is happy, but it is not the same for Cory. Cory has married and has a daughter of his own. Cory has reconnected with Ben, a stockbroker in Atlanta, and Johnny, a police chief in Florida.

Cory and his family drive through what is left of Zephyr. The paper mill closed in the late seventies, and most people moved on. Cory stops briefly at each place before moving on. There is one last place Cory wants to see. Cory drives up to the Thaxter mansion. Cory is surprised to find the mansion still lived in. Cory learns that Vernon left the house for an orphanage for boys.