The Scouting Book for Boys

2009

1 hr. 33 min.

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

List

55%

22 Reviews

Tomatometer

61%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Fourteen-year-old David (Thomas Turgoose) is spending the summer hanging out with Emily (Holly Grainger), the only other teenager in his trailer park. When her mom, Sharon (Susan Lynch), loses custody, Emily refuses to live with her father and convinces David to help her hide in a cave. While he brings Emily supplies and keeps her secret, the police investigate her disappearance -- and soon uncover Emily's relationship with her mother's boyfriend, Steve (Rafe Spall), igniting David's jealousy.

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isla s

I found this film a little hard to follow in full due to a lot of hushed dialogue being present. It has a bit of an arty/indie film type feel to it, with some nice shots of carefree life on the caravan park its set in. I thought the friendship between the two main characters was quite sweet - it seemed genuine enough. I like Thomas Turgoose as an actor. I thought it was reasonably thought provoking, in terms of there being issues with the adults and the younger characters finding their own way through their situation. There is a certain poignancy to it. I did think this was quite a good, understated sort of a British film, so I would recommend it, yes.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An intimate tale of you infatuation with Turgoose much in the vein of his collaborations with Shane Meadows endearing through his lost gentleness.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Genuine, and honest are Turgoose and the girl, in this amicable if far fetched teen fantasy. Its all a bit wishy washy otherwise.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Good British drama but not great

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A sad story of 2 young kids on a holiday camp who become the best of friends. one runs away. An enjoyable British movie

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Traggic and depressing tale of young love

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

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Tom Harper

Director

Steven Mackintosh

Kertzer

Thomas Turgoose

David

Rafe Spall

Steve

Holliday Grainger

Emily

Susan Lynch

Sharon

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

This is a film made with some verve and a real sense of place and atmosphere, but as a character study the main characters lack ...well ...character, I suppose.

Aug 30, 2018

Full Review

Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

The setting is a seaside caravan site where the acting and directing do not measure up to the script.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 22, 2010

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

Newcomer Tom Harper's direction manages to be both clumsy and overly stylised, while the script by Skins writer Jack Thorne is predictable.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 22, 2010

Full Review

Stuart McGurk

NME (New Musical Express)

You can't help feel that, if you're going to make a film about the pains of entering adulthood, you should have a good grip on what it's like when you get there.

Rated: 3/5

May 18, 2021

Full Review

Nikki Baughan

Roll Credits

By the time this absolute gem of a film reaches its jaw-dropping denouement, you'll want to watch it all over again.

Rated: 5/5

Oct 28, 2019

Full Review

Sarah Manvel

Critic's Notebook

Contempt for women is so pervasive as to make The Scouting Book for Boys an exercise in misogyny just short of torture porn.

Aug 9, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

Fourteen-year-old David (Thomas Turgoose) is spending the summer hanging out with Emily (Holly Grainger), the only other teenager in his trailer park. When her mom, Sharon (Susan Lynch), loses custody, Emily refuses to live with her father and convinces David to help her hide in a cave. While he brings Emily supplies and keeps her secret, the police investigate her disappearance -- and soon uncover Emily's relationship with her mother's boyfriend, Steve (Rafe Spall), igniting David's jealousy.

Director: Tom Harper
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Screenwriter: Jack Thorne
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 7, 2013

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