The Loneliest Boy in the World

SHOWTIMES 12553046

A recently orphaned teenager creates a replacement family consisting of recently deceased corpses in The Loneliest Boy in the World. Oliver (Max Harwood) grew up under the incredibly sheltered care of his mother (Carol Anne Watts), who died in a freak accident the previous year. While psychiatrist Julius (Evan Ross) wants to commit Oliver to a psychiatric hospital, social worker Margot (Ashley Benson) intends to give Oliver a chance to make some friends. After an awkward first encounter with new girl Chloe (Tallulah Haddon) doesn’t go so well, Oliver ends up digging up the recent corpses of Mitch (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), Susane (Susan Wokoma), Mel (Zenobia Williams), and Frank (Ben Miller) to create a makeshift family. However, Oliver is surprised to wake up the next day to find out that his new undead family has come to life.

The Loneliest Boy in the World Synopsis

The Loneliest Boy in the World is a coming-of-age horror-comedy directed by Martin Owen. The film is described as a modern fairytale – with zombies. Due to his incredibly sheltered upbringing, Oliver has rarely left the house he grew up in with his mother. Given a week to make some friends or else be sent to psychiatric care, Oliver finally ventures out into the world, only to become the target of local bullies and make a very awkward first impression on the new girl, Chloe. However, when Oliver gains a new zombie family, they help him to build his confidence, even though they are rapidly decaying.

My Thoughts on The Loneliest Boy in the World

The Loneliest Boy in the World is a cute and somewhat macabre film that comes across like the early films of Tim Burton, complete with the film being set in a town with some garishly painted buildings. There is no real explanation for how or why the corpses Oliver digs up come to life overnight. However, the film does not delve into such things, focusing more on gags about this zombie family having body parts that fall off and get stapled back on. Mitch, the first corpse Oliver dug up, gets so decayed throughout the film that he eventually has to wrap himself up, looking like the invisible man.

The Loneliest Boy in the World features an antagonist in the form of the psychiatrist Julius, who is determined to commit Oliver at all costs. He even places a bet with social worker Margot, confident at the chances of achieving this goal. Sporting a pencil-thin mustache, Evan Ross (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2) plays Julius with a cartoonish level of sleaziness, which contrasts with the more human performance by Ashley Benson (Spring Breakers) as Margot.

Despite taking place around Halloween and featuring some flourishes of gory violence, particularly the very extreme freak accident that kills Oliver’s mother, The Loneliest Boy in the World is not a film that can fully be classified as horror. Instead, it is a film with a very sitcom level of humour, making the film much more akin to something like The Addams Family or The Munsters. However, as a whole, The Loneliest Boy in the World is a charming coming-of-age fairytale.

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Trailer for The Loneliest Boy in the World