Brahms: The Boy II
After a family moves into the Heelshire Mansion, their young son soon makes friends with a life-like doll called Brahms.
Despite its limited budget of $10.0M, Brahms: The Boy II became a solid performer, earning $20.3M worldwide—a 103% return.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Brahms: The Boy II (2020) demonstrates meticulously timed narrative design, characteristic of William Brent Bell's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 13-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 26 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.0, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Liza
Jude
Sean
Brahms
Joseph
Main Cast & Characters
Liza
Played by Katie Holmes
A mother recovering from trauma who moves her family to a guest house, where her son bonds with a mysterious doll named Brahms.
Jude
Played by Christopher Convery
A young boy who has stopped speaking after witnessing a violent home invasion, who finds and becomes attached to the Brahms doll.
Sean
Played by Owain Yeoman
Liza's supportive husband who tries to help his family heal while growing concerned about the doll's influence on Jude.
Brahms
Played by Unknown
A porcelain doll that Jude discovers buried in the woods, which appears to have a sinister supernatural influence.
Joseph
Played by Ralph Ineson
A mysterious groundskeeper at the estate who knows the dark history of the Brahms doll and tries to warn the family.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Liza and her family live in their London home. Young Jude plays while his parents Sean and Liza maintain their normal urban life, seemingly content but with underlying tension.. Of particular interest, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 10 minutes when The family decides to leave London and move to a guest house on the Heelshire estate in the countryside, hoping the change of environment will help Jude recover from his trauma.. At 11% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 21 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 24% of the runtime. This shows the protagonist's commitment to Liza fully accepts Brahms the doll into their home and life, believing it's therapeutic for Jude. She commits to letting Jude keep this strange companion despite her initial reservations, crossing into a world where the doll has power., moving from reaction to action.
At 43 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 51% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Structural examination shows that this crucial beat Liza discovers the truth about Brahms' malevolent nature and the previous murders connected to the doll. She realizes Jude is in real danger, but when she tries to intervene, Jude is completely under Brahms' influence and rejects her help. False defeat: she's lost her son to the doll., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 64 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Sean is killed by Brahms or by Jude under Brahms' control. Liza loses her husband and faces the ultimate horror: her son is now a weapon wielded by an evil force. The family she tried to protect is destroyed., demonstrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Synthesis at 68 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 79% of the runtime. The finale confrontation. Liza battles to destroy Brahms and break the doll's hold on Jude. Physical and psychological warfare as mother fights for son against supernatural evil. She must harm the doll while saving the boy who defends it., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Brahms: The Boy II's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 13 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs systematic plot point analysis that identifies crucial turning points. By mapping Brahms: The Boy II against these established plot points, we can identify how William Brent Bell utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Brahms: The Boy II within the horror genre.
William Brent Bell's Structural Approach
Among the 5 William Brent Bell films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.0, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Brahms: The Boy II takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete William Brent Bell filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional horror films include Lake Placid, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Cat's Eye. For more William Brent Bell analyses, see The Boy, Stay Alive and Orphan: First Kill.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Liza and her family live in their London home. Young Jude plays while his parents Sean and Liza maintain their normal urban life, seemingly content but with underlying tension.
Theme
After the home invasion, a therapist or doctor suggests that trauma can manifest in unexpected ways, and that safety is sometimes an illusion. The theme explores how we protect our families and what we're willing to accept to feel safe.
Worldbuilding
Introduction to the family dynamic: Liza as protective mother, Sean as supportive father, Jude as their young son. The violent home invasion occurs where Liza is attacked and Jude witnesses the trauma, leaving him mute and traumatized.
Disruption
The family decides to leave London and move to a guest house on the Heelshire estate in the countryside, hoping the change of environment will help Jude recover from his trauma.
Resistance
The family settles into the isolated estate. Jude discovers the Brahms doll buried in the woods. Initially hesitant, Liza allows Jude to keep the doll when it seems to help him come out of his shell and begin speaking again.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Liza fully accepts Brahms the doll into their home and life, believing it's therapeutic for Jude. She commits to letting Jude keep this strange companion despite her initial reservations, crossing into a world where the doll has power.
Premise
The promise of the premise: a creepy doll horror film. Strange occurrences escalate, Brahms seems to move on its own, Jude becomes increasingly possessive and controlled by the doll, and Liza investigates the doll's dark history connected to the estate.
Midpoint
Liza discovers the truth about Brahms' malevolent nature and the previous murders connected to the doll. She realizes Jude is in real danger, but when she tries to intervene, Jude is completely under Brahms' influence and rejects her help. False defeat: she's lost her son to the doll.
Opposition
Brahms' control over Jude intensifies. The doll turns Jude against his parents. Liza and Sean's attempts to remove the doll or break its hold fail. People around them are threatened or harmed. The family fractures under the supernatural pressure.
Collapse
Sean is killed by Brahms or by Jude under Brahms' control. Liza loses her husband and faces the ultimate horror: her son is now a weapon wielded by an evil force. The family she tried to protect is destroyed.
Crisis
Liza grieves and processes the loss of Sean while trapped with a possessed Jude. She confronts her darkest fear: that she cannot save her son, and that her attempts to help him heal led to this nightmare. She must find strength to act.
Act III
ResolutionSynthesis
The finale confrontation. Liza battles to destroy Brahms and break the doll's hold on Jude. Physical and psychological warfare as mother fights for son against supernatural evil. She must harm the doll while saving the boy who defends it.
Transformation
Liza and Jude survive, but the final image reveals Brahms is not fully destroyed or that Jude retains some connection to the doll's influence. The trauma has transformed them, but darkness lingers. They are alive but forever changed and possibly still in danger.