IMDb 6.9 1998 HD

The Boys

The Boys

1998
Drama
86 min R Australia
6.442 / 10
6.9 IMDB

Brett Sprague is a violent and psychopathic man, who is released on parole after serving a sentence for assault. As he returns to his family house and we…

Personnel // Cast & Crew

Director Rowan Woods / Emma Schofield / Deborah Antoniou
Starring
David Wenham / Toni Collette / Lynette Curran / John Polson / Anthony Hayes / Jeanette Cronin / Anna Lise Phillips / Pete Smith

How Viewers Describe This Film

Common themes and sentiments

intense grim powerful unsettling raw bleak disturbing character-driven psychological volatile dark compelling

Reviews

D
Diana Sterling
May 13, 2026
4.0 / 5
4.0

A truly arresting piece of cinema, 'The Boys' excels in its unflinching depiction of a family teetering on the brink. David Wenham’s performance as the psychopathic Brett Sprague is nothing short of mesmerising, a coiled spring of menace.…

C
Charles Davies
May 13, 2026
3.0 / 5
3.0

'The Boys' presents a stark and often uncomfortable look at familial disintegration following the release of a violent individual. David Wenham’s portrayal of Brett Sprague is undeniably intense, a volatile presence that dictates the film’s grim trajectory. The…

B
Beatrice Holloway
May 13, 2026
4.5 / 5
4.5

This is a film that grips you from its opening moments and refuses to let go. 'The Boys' is a masterclass in building unbearable tension, centred around the return of Brett Sprague, a character whose psychopathic nature is…

A
Arthur Pendelton
May 13, 2026
3.5 / 5
3.5

In 'The Boys', the premise of a violent ex-convict returning to his family for a fateful 24 hours is executed with a grim realism that is hard to shake. David Wenham is a force of nature as Brett,…

E
Eleanor Vance
May 13, 2026
4.0 / 5
4.0

David Wenham delivers a chilling performance as Brett Sprague, a man whose return home after a prison sentence unleashes an almost palpable sense of dread. The film masterfully crafts an atmosphere of suffocating tension, drawing the audience into…

FAQs

The film delves into potent themes of familial dysfunction, the consequences of violence, and the cyclical nature of trauma. It examines the destructive impact of a psychopathic personality on those closest to him and the suffocating atmosphere that can pervade a family burdened by past transgressions. The narrative is a stark exploration of desperate circumstances and the potential for inevitable tragedy.