Nightbooks is a 2021 American dark fantasy film directed by David Yarovesky and written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. The film stars Winslow Fegley, Lidya Jewett, and Krysten Ritter. Based on the 2018 horror-fantasy children's book of the same name by J. A. White, it was released September 15, 2021, on Netflix.
STORY ;
Alex Mosher, a young boy from Brooklyn, New York who loves to write scary stories, swears to never write another one again. He trashes his room and grabs his "Nightbooks"—his collection of self-written scary stories—and sneaks out of his apartment while his parents are talking. He takes the elevator to his complex's furnace intending to burn them. Before he reaches the furnace room, he passes an apartment with an open door that bewitches him into entering. The door to the apartment shuts behind him and disappears.
He awakens to find himself in the magical apartment of a witch named Natacha. She threatens him with her magic, and informs him the apartment lures children into it, but only those who are useful to her are kept alive. She is intrigued by Alex's penchant for writing scary stories and demands he write her stories and read them to her each night, or she'll kill him. She puts him to work alongside a young girl named Yazmin, who was similarly lured into the apartment years ago in Washington, and put to work as a housekeeper. Alex learns from Yazmin the apartment moves around the world, and its only exits are the front and back door, which respond only to Natacha's magical keys.
Yazmin shows Alex the witch's enormous library, telling him Natacha has heard every scary story in it, which is why Alex has been tasked to write new ones. Alex is reluctant, saying he cannot write, though he will not tell her why. Yazmin informs him they are being spied on by Natacha's magical cat, Lenore, which can turn invisible and tells her everything.
Each night, Natacha is unimpressed with Alex's stories and demands they end unhappily. She also repeatedly requests Alex tell her the story of why he intended to burn his Nightbooks, but Alex manages to dodge her requests by distracting her each time. While reading through the library's collection for inspiration, Alex encounters notes in the margins of various books written by another trapped girl, detail her attempts to escape the witch's home. Her treasured possession, a unicorn necklace, causes him to dub her "Unicorn Girl".
Yazmin and Alex begin to bond as they engage in their household tasks, and they eventually win over Lenore's trust as well. Yazmin tearfully reveals she was afraid to become friends with him because all the other children whom she became friends with were killed by being transformed into figurines held in Natacha's cabinet. Alex realizes each of the figurines still have their personal affects, such as watches and earrings they had in real life, and deduces since none have a unicorn necklace, Unicorn Girl must successfully managed to escape. He and Yazmin search through Unicorn Girl's notes and discover a recipe for a sleeping potion she used on the witch, intending to steal her keys. The pair make the potion and Lenore slips it into Natacha's perfume bottle, which she habitually douses herself in each night.
When she falls asleep, they steal her keys and the door opens to a wooded area. They flee, but soon realize the woods are just another area contained within the apartment. Lost, they eventually find a cottage made of candy, only to be caught by Natacha and brought down to the cottage's basement. There, Natacha reveals she is Unicorn Girl. She was lured in by the original witch, but escaped, only to find her parents had moved away. Thus leaving her alone and with nowhere to return except the witch's home. She studied witchcraft under her, and eventually managed to subdue her using her obsession with scary stories to lull her to sleep. The new tragic scary stories Alex reads her each night work to keep the witch asleep, while Natacha harvests her magic in the form of the perfume bottles she uses. She threatens Yazmin and demands Alex tell her the story of why he intended to burn his Nightbooks, stating his fear of telling it makes it the ultimate scary story. Alex sadly reveals on his birthday, his best friend admitted he was embarrassed to be seen with him because of his obsession with scary stories. As a result, no one attended his birthday party; Alex felt so ashamed and hurt, he resolved to burn his stories and hide what made him special. This mollifies Natacha and the sleeping witch, but Alex ends the story by defiantly saying he was glad he was kidnapped because he was able to meet Yazmin and Lenore, friends who actually value what makes him special.
The sleeping witch is awoken by this happy ending and overpowers Natacha, who drops her perfume bottle. Yazmin grabs it and she, Alex, and Lenore flee. Using the Natacha's magic, Yazmin opens the front door, allowing them to exit to Alex's apartment complex. The witch follows them as they flee to the furnace room, planning on eating them. Alex manages to distract her with a scary story he invents, but before he can finish, he throws his Nightbook into the open furnace. The witch dives in after it to know how the story ends, while he and Yazmin push her in, killing her. They return to his worried parents, and he introduces Yazmin and Lenore as his best friends. Yazmin is reunited with her parents.
They continue to be friends, with Yazmin giving him a new notebook and encouraging his passion for writing scary stories. Meanwhile, the children's figurines in Natacha's cabinet begin to move and break free, while Natacha cackles and is revealed to have survived her fight with the witch.
He awakens to find himself in the magical apartment of a witch named Natacha. She threatens him with her magic, and informs him the apartment lures children into it, but only those who are useful to her are kept alive. She is intrigued by Alex's penchant for writing scary stories and demands he write her stories and read them to her each night, or she'll kill him. She puts him to work alongside a young girl named Yazmin, who was similarly lured into the apartment years ago in Washington, and put to work as a housekeeper. Alex learns from Yazmin the apartment moves around the world, and its only exits are the front and back door, which respond only to Natacha's magical keys.
Yazmin shows Alex the witch's enormous library, telling him Natacha has heard every scary story in it, which is why Alex has been tasked to write new ones. Alex is reluctant, saying he cannot write, though he will not tell her why. Yazmin informs him they are being spied on by Natacha's magical cat, Lenore, which can turn invisible and tells her everything.
Each night, Natacha is unimpressed with Alex's stories and demands they end unhappily. She also repeatedly requests Alex tell her the story of why he intended to burn his Nightbooks, but Alex manages to dodge her requests by distracting her each time. While reading through the library's collection for inspiration, Alex encounters notes in the margins of various books written by another trapped girl, detail her attempts to escape the witch's home. Her treasured possession, a unicorn necklace, causes him to dub her "Unicorn Girl".
Yazmin and Alex begin to bond as they engage in their household tasks, and they eventually win over Lenore's trust as well. Yazmin tearfully reveals she was afraid to become friends with him because all the other children whom she became friends with were killed by being transformed into figurines held in Natacha's cabinet. Alex realizes each of the figurines still have their personal affects, such as watches and earrings they had in real life, and deduces since none have a unicorn necklace, Unicorn Girl must successfully managed to escape. He and Yazmin search through Unicorn Girl's notes and discover a recipe for a sleeping potion she used on the witch, intending to steal her keys. The pair make the potion and Lenore slips it into Natacha's perfume bottle, which she habitually douses herself in each night.
When she falls asleep, they steal her keys and the door opens to a wooded area. They flee, but soon realize the woods are just another area contained within the apartment. Lost, they eventually find a cottage made of candy, only to be caught by Natacha and brought down to the cottage's basement. There, Natacha reveals she is Unicorn Girl. She was lured in by the original witch, but escaped, only to find her parents had moved away. Thus leaving her alone and with nowhere to return except the witch's home. She studied witchcraft under her, and eventually managed to subdue her using her obsession with scary stories to lull her to sleep. The new tragic scary stories Alex reads her each night work to keep the witch asleep, while Natacha harvests her magic in the form of the perfume bottles she uses. She threatens Yazmin and demands Alex tell her the story of why he intended to burn his Nightbooks, stating his fear of telling it makes it the ultimate scary story. Alex sadly reveals on his birthday, his best friend admitted he was embarrassed to be seen with him because of his obsession with scary stories. As a result, no one attended his birthday party; Alex felt so ashamed and hurt, he resolved to burn his stories and hide what made him special. This mollifies Natacha and the sleeping witch, but Alex ends the story by defiantly saying he was glad he was kidnapped because he was able to meet Yazmin and Lenore, friends who actually value what makes him special.
The sleeping witch is awoken by this happy ending and overpowers Natacha, who drops her perfume bottle. Yazmin grabs it and she, Alex, and Lenore flee. Using the Natacha's magic, Yazmin opens the front door, allowing them to exit to Alex's apartment complex. The witch follows them as they flee to the furnace room, planning on eating them. Alex manages to distract her with a scary story he invents, but before he can finish, he throws his Nightbook into the open furnace. The witch dives in after it to know how the story ends, while he and Yazmin push her in, killing her. They return to his worried parents, and he introduces Yazmin and Lenore as his best friends. Yazmin is reunited with her parents.
They continue to be friends, with Yazmin giving him a new notebook and encouraging his passion for writing scary stories. Meanwhile, the children's figurines in Natacha's cabinet begin to move and break free, while Natacha cackles and is revealed to have survived her fight with the witch.
In June 2019, it was announced that Netflix was developing an adaptation of Nightbooks, with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis writing the script.In October 2020, it was announced that Krysten Ritter, Winslow Fegley and Lidya Jewett would star in the film and that David Yarovesky would direct.The film was produced by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert through Ghost House Pictures, and by ason Novick and Michelle Knudsen through MXN Entertainment.
Principal photography took place from October 14 to December 17, 2020, in Toronto.
Principal photography took place from October 14 to December 17, 2020, in Toronto.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10.Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 65 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
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