Isn’t it strange to move into a house where you expect to make memories with your family, only to discover it gives you a memory you’ll never forget? Lifetime movies have been really successful lately, and it’s even better if they’re based on true stories, which adds to the suspenseful experience. It’s not as common as it may sound, but the recent movie The Boy in the Walls (2023) is based on actual events involving criminal phrogging by Daniel LaPlante, who managed to hide in a wall for almost a year of his life.
Some audiences might not see Lifetime movies as the best, but their plot makes them shine in the film industry. One of the actresses who carry this movie is Constance Zimmer, who has also been loved in shows like Condor, Grey’s Anatomy, and DC’s Wonder Woman: Bloodlines. However, this time not as an actress but as a movie director.
The storyline, written by Katrina Onstad and David Weaver, offers a tremendously straightforward narrative, and the actors chosen for each character are a good fit. Overall, this is a watchable movie that you must see. Here, I will delve further into this film’s features and its ending in detail.
Boy In The Walls (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis :
The story begins with the stepmother, Alisa, who is still adjusting to her husband’s children. Her husband, Chris, and she have to move to a new house, hoping to start a fresh chapter in their family. Before Chris met Alisa, his previous wife was Rachel, and they had two children together, Theo and Maya. When Rachel passed away, Chris’ life completely collapsed, and he didn’t know where to begin again. Chris never imagined finding another love. Unfortunately, Theo and Maya had difficulty accepting Alisa as their second mother. They are too young to understand everything thoroughly, and they think Alisa is trying to take their mother’s place now that she’s no longer here.
Alisa is also having a hard time dealing with Chris’ kids, especially with Maya, who always tends to ignore her. Alisa still does her best to win their hearts. Nevertheless, the grief the kids feel from losing their mother is still challenging for them to cope with and is even more challenging for them to accept. Chris thinks that things will slowly heal as time passes since they just need space to grow and accept. Alas, Maya is the one who isn’t easy to deal with.
On the other hand, Chris is busy and often on business trips. So Alisa is stuck under the same roof as Maya, and she has to deal with it every single day, no matter how hard it gets. Alisa still struggles to find something that makes Maya comfortable with her. There are times when Alisa has had enough and is fed up with Maya’s attitude toward her. However, she still chooses to understand that Maya is going through a hard time, so she keeps her thoughts to herself.
Maya also hates that Chris and Alisa have been wanting to have a baby for a long time now. She thinks her father will lose all the attention, which will shift to Alisa and the new baby, and she’s scared of being outcasted. Alisa is still human, after all, and takes some things to heart. She gets furious and insecure at times, but she always just thinks that Maya is probably going through the most difficult time of her life.
There was this one day when Maya found her doll in the trash bin, and she placed all the blame on Alisa for throwing it away. But Alisa knew to herself that she hadn’t done anything, and she thought it might have been Theo or that there might be someone else in their house watching them all this time. That’s when unusual things begin to happen inside their home, and Alisa started feeling creeped out for some reason, with no words able to describe it.
She attempts to explain what she feels to Chris, but he thinks Alisa is stressed, so sometimes her mind can make up things. Alisa still believes that there’s something in their house that doesn’t feel right, but she’s not sure whether it’s just her imagination. There’s a sound coming from the floorboard, and someone in the middle of the woods gives them a hint that someone might be watching their family. Someone retakes Maya’s doll, and they put markings on it this time.
After all, Chris still doesn’t believe anything, even though he has seen everything already. There’s this time when Alisa is heading towards her car, and she sees someone running in the woods. She thinks that she has to check for herself to confirm everything. When she goes in there, she finds that all the little things that have been mysteriously missing from their house are there, and she also sees a footprint on the ground.
She went home, and as soon as Chris got home from his business trip, Alisa decided to accompany him to the same place where she saw everything to prove that she was not hallucinating things. But she saw everything again, including the footprints. Alisa also told Chris about the time she found the music playing on its own from all the speakers in the house. Chris is making it worse by suggesting that Alisa needs a psychiatrist because he believes she’s just stressed, and it will affect her pregnancy.
When Maya overheard Alisa and Chris’ conversation, she thought that she might not tell her father about her own strange experiences to avoid him calling her delusional. Maya talks to Alisa the next day and tells her that she hears creepy noises every night and thinks there’s someone in the house. Alisa tells Maya that when Chris gets home, she will say to him that they must move out of the house, no matter what Chris tells her.
But before Alisa can do that, she’s overthinking whether she can make it out alive. Alisa notices a hidden passage behind the walls, leading to a concealed room where a boy named Joe stays. Joe is behind the strange things happening to them, and he’s been watching the family all this time. Joe was one of the previous house owners, and his mother died there, leaving a scar on his psyche.
His mother died, and ever since Alisa and Chris moved into the house, he associates Alisa with his mother’s presence. He wants everyone to leave the house except Alisa. Since Maya doesn’t get along with Alisa, Joe doesn’t like her attitude and eventually plans to kill her. Joe isn’t mentally stable, and he has also experienced abuse from his mother.
Boy In The Walls (2023) Movie Ending, Explained:
What happens to the family after they find out about Joe?
In the end, we see Alisa push Joe, resulting in him being seriously injured and unable to get back on his feet. When the police arrive, Alisa declines to press charges when she realizes what Joe has been going through, understanding that it’s not his fault. Joe has been longing for the love his mother never gave him his entire life, and that’s why he did that to Alisa. Everything that happens makes Maya realize that she’s always been impolite to Alisa. Yet, she was too rude to recognize that it was never Alisa’s intention to replace her mother’s spot in their family. Even as strange as their experiences sound, Alisa is still thankful for them because they bring Maya closer to her and their family.
Read More: Boy in the Walls: Cast & Characters Explained, Release Date, Time, Plot, Where to Watch & Other Details
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF-AvOioBF8
