THE BOOGEYMAN (2023)
A well-made monster movie — and only for grown viewers.
Should You Watch It?
Here is the honest decision. THE BOOGEYMAN takes a twisty Stephen King short story and turns it into a straightforward scary monster movie — and, on its own terms, it works. The scares land, the finish is exciting, and the acting is pretty good. At its heart beats something worth admiring: a grieving family that pulls together to defeat what threatens them.
But it earns its cautions. There's an "f" word, several other obscenities, and two strong profanities. There are many scary scenes with children in danger. And there's a scene where teenage girls share an old marijuana cigarette. This is a horror film built on darkness and dread.
So: if you're an adult or older teen who can handle intense scares and the language that comes with them, this is a competent, even satisfying fright. But because the experience is best managed where a parent controls the room — and because it was never made for younger family members — we'd wait for home.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESPsychotherapist Will Harper is still reeling from his wife's death, raising his teenage daughter, Sadie, and his younger daughter, Sawyer, alone. When Sawyer insists a monster is hiding in her closet, Will tells her it's only a nightmare.
Then the attacks begin in earnest. As the creature grows bolder, Sadie starts digging into a stranger's terrifying claims about a monster that once stalked his own family — a creature that thrives in the dark. What she uncovers puts the whole household in the monster's path.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars, and here's what they buy you. This isn't the twisty, TWILIGHT ZONE–style story King wrote — there's no surprise ending here. It's a simple monster movie that mines its scares from the dark, and it delivers them well, building to an exciting finish. The acting is pretty good throughout.
The seams show if you look. The monster's supernatural powers — snuffing candles, killing lights, slamming doors from a distance — are never explained and feel inconsistent. And the characters keep sitting around in dark rooms even after the creature starts appearing more often, which strains belief. Even so, the film does something many horror movies don't: it works toward both banishing and destroying its evil. It's a solid, effective scare that stops short of the cleverness of its source.
The Worldview
THE BOOGEYMAN carries a strong moral, pro-family worldview with redemptive elements. Its center is a wounded family working together to defeat an evil that has invaded their home — a father shouldering the burden of caring for his children after his wife's death, and daughters learning to trust and stand with one another.
The film's driving image is instructive: the monster lives in darkness and fears the light. The good guys' whole strategy is to use light and fire to drive the evil back. That's a resonant picture, even if the movie never grounds it in anything beyond survival. There are no overt faith elements here — no God, no prayer, no gospel — only the instinct that light defeats what hides in the dark.
The film also includes a brief scene in which the therapist counsels a young lesbian woman about her girlfriend. Weigh that as you will.
The picture the movie can't help but paint — that light overcomes darkness — points past itself. Scripture names the source of that light: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5). What this family fights with fire, the gospel answers with a Person.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral, pro-family worldview with redemptive elements where a family works together to defeat an evil monster with unexplained supernatural powers to blow out candles and affect lights and suddenly close doors from afar, but the evil monster lives in darkness and is afraid of the light, plus father runs his own office from home and there’s a brief scene where a therapist talks to a young lesbian woman about her girlfriend
Foul Language
13 obscenities (including one “f” word said to the monster, several “s” words and an SOB), one Jesus profanity, one GD profanity, and five light profanities
Violence
Strong scary violence such as monster jumps out and attacks people (including a young girl and a teenage girl), monster lifts little girl and throws her against the TV screen in one scene, booby trap fires rounds of shotgun shells at monster, woman fires other shotgun rounds at monster, woman ties up teenager girl and uses her as bait for the monster, character burns to death, implied suicide, scary sounds of monster in closets and dark rooms, scary sounds of monster fighting someone in another room, character use lighter and hairspray as a small flame thrower, teenage girl slaps another teenage girl for being obnoxious, etc.
Sex
No sex scenes, but there’s a brief scene where a therapist talks to a young lesbian woman about her girlfriend
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
Teenage girls ask teenage heroine if there’s any alcohol in her house but she says her father’s not much of a drinker
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No tobacco smoking, but high school girls share an old marijuana cigarette from the teenage heroine’s late mother;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Teenage heroine is upset with her widowed father because she says he never takes her seriously, and father talks about his struggles to take care of the family after his wife and their two children’s mother dies.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The monster in this film can't stand the light — the family's whole hope is to bring darkness into the open. How does Scripture describe what light does to the things that hide?
John 1:5 · Ephesians 5:11–13Will Harper carries the weight of raising his daughters alone after his wife's death, and admits how hard it is. Where does a struggling parent — or any of us — find help under a load too heavy to carry?
Psalm 68:5 · Matthew 11:28–30Sadie feels her father never takes her seriously, and their grief keeps them from hearing one another. What does honest, patient communication look like in a family walking through loss?
Ephesians 4:29 · James 1:19This family finds its strength by refusing to face the danger alone. Why does Scripture say we're stronger together than apart?
Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 · Galatians 6:2The Final Word
THE BOOGEYMAN is a well-made, genuinely scary monster movie with a pro-family heart — and a load of harsh language, drug content, and frightening peril that put it well outside family movie night. For older viewers who want the fright, it's best enjoyed at home, where the lights are yours to control. So our answer stands: wait for home — adults only. Looking for something the whole family can watch? Try our latest family-friendly picks.
