If you know nothing about this movie, the plot if pretty basic. A couple hire a young woman, Greta, to look after their son while they take a vacation. However, when Greta gets there she is surprised to find that the child isn't a child at all, but is instead a porcelain doll. At first she thinks this is all a joke, but realizes that the couple are serious, and eventually, after strange things start happening she starts to wonder if Brahms is actually still around, and if his spirit is trapped in the body of the porcelain doll.
The movie does start slow, as Greta spends a little bit of the movie looking at the doll and acting like the couple who left her to care for a doll were crazy. She spends days drinking wine, reading magazines, and calling a friend back in America who is keeping tabs on the ex-boyfriend, Cole, she is escaping from. After she finds that some of her personal items start disappearing she starts to believe that Brahms may actually be alive. She asks Malcolm, the local grocery owner who delivers to the family, a little about the child and his death. After learning about his life and that he may have been responsible for the death of a playmate, Greta starts wondering about the boy and his spirit. She starts wondering if he actually is in there, and she begins taking care of the doll as if it were alive. Once her ex, Cole, shows up to drag her back to the states she asks Brahms to help, and this is when the big twist of the movie comes.
I can't say too much more about this movie, as there are at least three twists that happen and that are unexpected. For me to say that is actually a big deal, only because I can almost see the twist coming in a lot of movie I have watched, especially horror movies. One of the twists was so surprising that I had to go watch it again just to see what I hadn't noticed. I also found that a lot of the movie gives hints to what is going to happen, as Brahms is said to be shy.
The acting was a little dull, the actor playing Malcolm was a little too willing to appease. Also, some of the actions of Greta seemed unrealistic. For example, she starts having a relationship with Malcolm even though she is at the house to get away from her abusive ex. She also seems, especially after so long, to believe too easily that Brahms is in the doll. The emotional reactions of all of the characters was a little more bland than I felt they should have been. Honestly, the best actors in the movie were the elderly parents of Brahms. They were caring and slightly off in the beginning of the movie. They acted loving towards each other and they seemed concerned, for Greta or Brahms the audience isn't sure. Then there is a scene in the movie that is so touching, sad, and horrifying at the same time that solidify them as the best actors in this movie.
I recommend this movie. It does have several twists which I enjoyed. As so many horror movies these days are so predictable, I feel like this was an underrated movie that got passed up because it does look hokey in the previews. Plus, who hasn't seen a movie involving a possessed doll? This is different, trust me! I think you might enjoy it, even though the acting isn't the best ever, it also isn't the worst.
I have to be honest, this is one of several movies I've seen recently which has offered a twist I enjoyed, and not one that I felt didn't belong or made the movie suck.