glitter_n_gore

Tis the night—the night
Of the grave's delight,
And the warlocks are at their play;
Ye think that without,
The wild winds shout,
But no, it is they—it is they!

Boys In the Trees is the most elegant and personal tribute to Halloween I’ve ever seen. Don’t bother telling me Halloween’s over because I don’t care. And honestly, coming back around to this movie a couple days after the day itself was strangely fitting.

I’m not going to tell you the plot. I went in cold and that’s how it should be experienced. The story is loosely constructed, more mood than action, heavily dialogue-driven, and paced like a dream. It also brought back a lot of memories of what it felt like to be a “kid” on the verge of growing up, but not quite wanting to. The fact that it’s set in the late 90s, with a grunge-industrial soundtrack to match, helps a lot.


Screenshot of a teenager in a red hoodie
facing a path in the foggy woods

What I am going to tell you is what I remember about one particular Halloween night in 1996, when I was thirteen years old. Technically too old for trick-or-treating, not old enough to be content staying home to hand out candy. That’s the theme running through Boys In the Trees: fear of growing up, coupled with fear of being left behind, compounded by fear of all the people who you’ve wronged by trying to fit in.

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