nightbooks review
Netflix

Netflix and filmmaker David Yarovesky (Brightburn) partnered up to release Nightbooks, a young-adult fantasy horror film based on the best-selling children’s book by author J.A. White. Nightbooks was written for the screen by Tobias Iaconis and Mikki Daughtry (The Curse of La Llorona) and stars Winslow Fegley (Come Play), Lidya Jewett (Hidden Figures) and Krysten Ritter (Marvel’s Jessica Jones).

The story follows Alex (Fegley), a young horror fanatic and story writer who flees his apartment upon hearing his parents argue over allowing him to become so invested in the macabre. Frustrated with himself for causing the argument, he decides to burn his short stories, which he calls “Nightbooks.”

Upon entering, Alex comes across an open apartment door and realizes he’s in an enchanted location, housing the evil witch Natacha (Ritter) and her Sphynx cat, Lenore. Natacha claims that she lures children to her domain and eats them unless she can find them useful. She agrees to allow Alex to live as long as he provides her with a new scary story every single night.

While trying to find inspiration for his writing, Alex meets Yasmin (Jewett), another child kept captive for three years in exchange for her housekeeping. Alex and Yasmin must work together to continuously write stories to meet Natacha’s demands and try to escape her domain in one piece.

I really enjoyed the concept of this film. The overarching story took precedence, but each of Alex’s tales broke off into a sub-anthology style, separating itself in art design and substance. The stories were short and to the point, but I appreciated the effort that went into the small parts that moved the film along. Nightbooks also had an extremely creative and fun homage to Hansel and Gretel, one of the most popular of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, but I won’t go into details for spoiler reasons.

There were fun shoutouts to the older horror audience who was watching, with several references to films like The Lost Boys (including a killer cover of “Cry Little Sister” by Chvrches), The People Under the Stairs, and Creepshow.

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My biggest appreciation for this film came with the technical aspects. The set design was top-notch, giving the audience an extremely creepy atmosphere yet changing in style from room to room. The witch’s library was drab and looming. The botanical gardens were brightly colored and deadly, and, of course, there was an edible-looking witch’s hut filled with delicious designs.

Most of the CG looked great and led to some incredibly terrifying creatures (even for an adult horror film) called “Shredders.” CG blended well with practical effects, which always seems to be the best balance in newer films. It was great to see characters stomp on a CG creature and seamlessly covered in practical goop.

Makeup was fantastic, too, with some well-done prosthetics and creature work bringing things to life. Krysten Ritter’s witch costumes were eye-catching and awesome and could have been used for spooky fashion show runway looks.

The few issues I had were with the dialogue writing, which comes with a recent pattern I’ve noticed in kid-friendly horror films like Goosebumps (2015) or The Witches (2020). There’s a seemingly inconsistent urge to add cheesy exposition in almost every scene to slow the story so children can catch up. Kids aren’t dumb and are great at figuring out a story being told without actually being told the story. Especially older kids, whom I assume this film is really made for, considering its ability to go dark to downright frightening in an instant.

Ritter had extremely scary moments, and the scene felt awkward when it was book-ended by weak exposition or dialogue. That said, both kids did amazing jobs in their roles, and I loved seeing an evil Krysten Ritter on the screen.

Though I probably wasn’t the intended demographic for Nightbooks, I still enjoyed it. The first half started to bore me, but the second act picked things up. The film delivered a solid love letter to all those who have felt like outsiders due to their love of horror, specifically during childhood.

Nightbooks is now streaming on Netflix.

REVIEW OVERVIEW
Nightbooks
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Stephen Rosenberg
Stephen is a massive horror, sci-fi, fantasy and action movie geek. He's an avid horror & sci-fi book/comic reader, musician and podcaster. He co-founded and co-hosts Motion Picture Meltdown (movie-roasting podcast since 2009), which is part of the United Cypher Podcast Network. Stephen is the Editor-at-Large for Horror Geek Life and an Associate Editor and contributing writer for MovieWeb. Feel free to contact him regarding screeners, reviews, press kits, interviews, and more!
review-nightbooks-netflixNightbooks is a creative and fun fantasy horror film, intended more for children and young adult audiences. The child actors did a great job, and Krysten Ritter played an imposing and scary witch. Unfortunately, some of her greatest moments were brought down a bit with cheesy dialogue and forced exposition. The set design, costume design, and makeup were all top-notch, and added a spooky and fun atmosphere to the film. The story paid creative homage to Hansel and Gretel and peppered in cool anthology-style moments throughout. I got a little bored with the first half, but things picked up in second half, with good storytelling and an important message. It’s probably only a single watch for me, but I definitely recommend checking it out!

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