The Scouting Book for Boys

Play trailer

The Scouting Book for Boys

2009

1h 33m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

55%

Tomatometer

22 Reviews

61%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Deborah Ross

The Spectator

08/30/2018

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.

Go to Full Review

Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

03/22/2010

2/5

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

Go to Full Review

Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

03/22/2010

3/5

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

Go to Full Review

Stuart McGurk

NME (New Musical Express)

05/18/2021

3/5

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.

Go to Full Review

Nikki Baughan

Roll Credits

10/28/2019

5/5

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

Go to Full Review

Sarah Manvel

Critic's Notebook

08/09/2018

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

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

isla s

09/03/2022

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.

See more

07/05/2016

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

See more

01/21/2015

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

See more

09/15/2014

Good British drama but not great

See more

11/23/2013

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

See more

01/27/2013

Traggic and depressing tale of young love

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Tom Harper

Director

Steven Mackintosh

Kertzer

Thomas Turgoose

David

Rafe Spall

Steve

Holliday Grainger

Emily

Susan Lynch

Sharon

Irresistible

22%

32%

Irresistible

Watchlist

Take Shelter

92%

81%

Take Shelter

Watchlist

The Eclipse

77%

49%

The Eclipse

Watchlist

Martha Marcy May Marlene

90%

71%

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Watchlist

Straw Dogs

42%

34%

Straw Dogs

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

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
Producer: Christian Colson, Ivana Mackinnon
Screenwriter: Jack Thorne
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 7, 2013
Runtime: 1h 33m

Most Popular at Home Now