SICK BOY (2012)

Sick Boy (2012)
Directed by: Tim T. Cunningham
Written by: Tim T. Cunningham
Starring: Debbie Rochon, Marc Donato, Skye McCole Bartusiak

SICK BOY (2012)
Writtena and directed by Tim T. Cunningham

A young woman named Lucy is sick of her dental nurse job and quits, much to the annoyance of her fiance, Chris. With the couple due to be married in a matter of months, and with Lucy’s inability to hold a job down for more than 5 minutes, Lucy’s friend, Alice, offers Lucy the chance to take her babysitting job offer. Successfully gaining the job of looking after doctor’s son, Jeremy, for the evening for the generous sum of 400 dollars seems like easy money, especially when the boy doesn’t come out of his room due to a mystery illness. But with the downstairs room off-limits and the lack of noise or appearance from Jeremy, Lucy can’t help but question what’s really going on behind the padlocked bedroom door.

Sick Boy gives its main plot away from the image on the DVD cover, so with that mystery revealed, the viewer alternatively focuses on two things: when will Lucy discover just what is wrong with poor Jeremy and what the result of the discovery will be. A radio broadcast very early on in the film is a rather obvious plot device for viewers to connect the boy and his illness together long before we’ve even met the family. By the time the reveal happens, it’s not that impressive and feels somewhat of an anti-climax due to knowing what was behind the door from the beginning.

Debbie Rochon does a great job as Jeremy’s mother, Dr Helen Gordan, who we can tell from the offset is holding something back from Lucy regarding the state of her son. Skye McCole Bartusiak stars as Lucy, an interesting character who’s both realistic yet annoying with her fidgety, unsettled approach to almost everything. It’s no wonder her fiance, Chris, played by Marc Donato, is fed up with her. With such an unpredictable character, it’s sometimes hard to invest in or sympathise with her, although she does seem to turn serious when concerned for young Jeremy.

The makeup used and special FX used in the film are done quite well, with an unusual blue tone chosen as the skin colour for sickly Jeremy. There’s not too much blood in this film, with director Tim R. Cunningham relying more on suspense to bring the tension. Placing Lucy in an environment of impressive wealth – a huge house with multiple floors, many rooms and an outdoor swimming pool – works incredibly well as the viewer is perched on the end of their seat wondering just what might pop out of the shadows and when.

The plot is rather simplistic and with the viewer able to second-guess most of it, the conclusion is a bit of an anti-climax. There’s some good ideas in Sick Boy, but the tone of the film doesn’t quite match the potential that it has. I found certain parts and characters a bit comical so when events did turn nasty, I struggled to take the character or situation seriously.

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