Colin Trevorrow may have directed one of the highest-grossing movies in history, as well as another billion-dollar smash hit thanks to his contributions to two thirds of the Jurassic World trilogy, but The Book of Henry was a damning slice of evidence that a successful filmmaker isn’t necessarily a good one.
Not that we’re trashing his abilities outright, but it’s telling that so many Star Wars fans breathed a sigh of relief that he’d become one of the many behind the camera casualties once they’d had the misfortune of witnessing Jurassic World Dominion with their own eyes, and his return to low budget roots in the 2017 thriller was hardly greeted with widespread enthusiasm.
A 22 percent Rotten Tomatoes score was bad enough, but even on a thrifty budget of $10 million, The Book of Henry tanked spectacularly. Failing to even recoup half of that amount in ticket sales, the only headlines the film actually managed to grab came from its twist, which easily deserves to be named among one of the worst you’re ever likely to see on a screen either big or small.
The story begins as a fairly whimsical tale of a family unit dealing with the day-to-day trials and tribulations of domestic bliss, but once it transpires that the next door neighbors are harboring a dark secret, the sh*t hits the fan in more ways than one. We’re not going to spoil it, but it’s certifiably bonkers, and not in a good way.
Sadly, streaming subscribers have been finding that out for themselves this week, after FlixPatrol outed the dismal The Book of Henry as one of the top-viewed flicks on Rakuten. Where Trevorrow goes next is anyone’s guess, but it could be career-defining based on what we’ve seen so far.