History YMMV / TheBookOfHenry

* CaptainObviousAesop: If a child urges you to [[spoiler:murder your neighbor]], don’t listen to them.

* AssPull: [[spoiler: Some people felt Susan choosing not to shoot Glen was this, because up until that point the movie had been about Susan learning to put her trust in Henry, so having a moment where she learns she has to disregard Henry feels out of left field.]]

** The story can't seem to make up its mind of whether Susan is a cool relatable mom or embarrassing and incompetent. For instance, her frequent video gaming is treated as her regressing into a [[ManChild woman child]], yet the same scene also establishes she continues to go to work even though financially she has no need to. Additionally, the first act sets her up as being an alcoholic, and this trait disappears entirely in the following half of the film.

* WhatAnIdiot: Henry's "genius" plan to murder Glenn is full of obvious holes.
** Henry's plan revolves around shooting Glenn so his body falls in a river and is carried away to be hopefully never found (or tracked down). Said river by the murder site is a creek about three feet wide and maybe 4 inches deep at the absolute lowest that wouldn't be able to carry the body of a dead dog away, never mind a full-sized adult man like Glenn. Thus, the plan is to murder Glenn in Susan's backyard, leave the body there, and hope no one investigates.
** The entire plan hinges on a very strict timing for Susan's alibi, but the entire setup to lure Glenn to his death depends on him investigating a weird noise he hears outside by his home. If Glenn decides not to bother, to take a shower, to watch a movie, be on the phone, to be asleep, to go out and not be home during the talent show, the shooting can't happen.
** If the lake Henry plans to toss the sniper rifle into to get rid of it is the only lake around, it may end up being the ''very'' first place where the police will start looking.
** The plan was originally conceived by Henry with the intent that ''he'' would execute it, and only once he's dead does Susan get the instructions to perform the plan. The problem is, several steps of the plan would've been outright impossible for Henry to ever perform. Part of the plan is to acquire a sniper rifle from the local gun store without filling any paperwork by name-dropping a local crime boss. But the gun store owner is never going to sell the gun to an 11-year-old no matter whose name the kid drops. The second obvious hole is that the entire plan is to kill Glenn while the talent show is going on, having been seen arriving and being back before it ends without having been seen leaving. But Henry would've most likely been ''in'' the show himself. And as a kid, he can't just drive away in a car the way his mom does to meet the strict time limit they have.
** In general, the plan ''might'' have seemed a lot more appealing had the film been made or set during the 90s (when the film was written), although not by much. However, since it's set in the modern day, it would be ''incredibly'' easy to just '''film''' the abusive stepfather while he's abusing Christina and post it online so he can't deny it, seeing as how the stepfather strangely always abuses Christina in front of an open window.[[note]]In fact, the plot wouldn't hold up much better if it had been made during the 90s either, since one could just as easily film the abuse and send it to the nearby news station; the only way Henry's suggestion would've been a good idea would be if it had been a BlackComedy as originally planned.[[/note]]

** In general, the plan ''might'' have seemed a lot more appealing had the film been made or set during the 90s (although not by much). However, since it's set in the modern day, it would be ''incredibly'' easy to just '''film''' the abusive stepfather while he's abusing Christina and post it online so he can't deny it, seeing as how the stepfather strangely always abuses Christina in front of an open window.[[note]]In fact, the plot wouldn't hold up much better if it had been made during the 90s either, since one could just as easily film the abuse and send it to the nearby news station; the only way Henry's suggestion would've been a good idea would be if it had been a BlackComedy as originally planned.[[/note]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The film repeatedly makes mention of an unseen black market purchaser named Dominic, who's implied to be some kind of local crime lord. This detail never matters beyond giving Henry and Susan an excuse for purchasing a gun without any registration, with no mention of police investigating Dominic or what his cronies may be up to. Several viewers, including Olson, suggested he could've led up to an ironic ending where Susan is arrested for allegedly being connected to Dominic.

** Janice the school principal is stated to having ignored Christina's bruising as a sign of abuse and is too fearful of filing a possibly false report against the police commissioner. In reality, there are few repercussions for a abuse report proven wrong, so many teachers are encouraged to ask about or report bruises on students, even if it may have come from sports instead.

** It's a repeated thing that Henry feels the need to teach Susan about their finance. They are rich. She can just hire an accountant.

* FauxSymbolism: Early on, Susan tucks Henry and Peter into bed, [[AffectionateNickname calling them "Enchilada Number 1 and 2"]] respectively. In the ending, as [[spoiler:Susan tucks Peter and Christina into bed, she calls them "Enchilada Number 1" and "Butterfly Number 1", with Christina seemingly fitting in perfectly in Henry's place in the family. There's the obvious if weird [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth reincarnation subtext]], and you can also read [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything a rather disquieting Freudian interpretation]].]]

* {{Glurge}}: As [[WebVideo/FoldingIdeas Dan Olson]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO4o-gYkr7E puts it]], the first half of the movie is "insufferably twee", which makes the second half's [[spoiler:assassination plot]] highly jarring and unintentionally comic.

* {{Narm}}:
** The movie spends ''way'' too long setting up Henry as a child genius that is TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth, to the point that his mother accepting (up to the very last second) unquestionably the kid's decision that an abusive parent can only be stopped via assassination and on ''that'' very last second remembering that he was just a child just feels weird. That Henry, the filmmaker's objective notwithstanding, comes across more like an InsufferableGenius JerkAss that audiences would probably like to see getting a punch to the face at the very least doesn't helps any.
** The very idea that, on this day and age, Glenn had somehow been capable of evading all kinds of scrutiny regarding his kid's abuse to the point that assassination ''does'' look like the only way to make it stop. Not only could Henry or his mom could have been able to get video evidence with modern cell phones, but school jurisdictions go so overboard when they see a kid that ''looks'' abused that even the chief of police would need some hefty evidence (connections or not) to demonstrate that it's NotWhatItLooksLike.
** We do not truly know how long has the abuse been going on, but the first act of the film makes it look like the time the Carpenters notice something is wrong with the girl is the ''very first'' time they see this. Additionally, we don't see or have been told that Henry had talked to the principal about this at any time prior. Regardless, he barges into the principal's office in a matter typical of a CowboyCop movie, screaming [[MoodDissonance "GODDAMMIT, JANICE! HOW MUCH LONG DOES THIS HAVE TO GO ON?!”]] like he's an middle-aged man and it is ''then'' that he says he's told her about this several times prior. [[FlatWhat What.]] ShowDontTell at its absolute finest, people.

** Peter's magic act received several:
*** During ''WebVideo/MidnightScreenings'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a20JZiTIcJA&t=48m Brad and Brian suggest]] that Peter receiving a standing ovation for his magic act boils down to [[spoiler:the audience applauding out of pity for him evoking "the dead brother card" rather than anything actually in his act.]]
*** Likewise, during the ''[[Podcast/BlankCheckWithGriffinAndDavid Blank Check]]'' episode on it, David Sims speculates that, since [[spoiler: Peter said at the start of his act that he was "going to bring his brother back to life"]], the standing ovation is more [[spoiler: out of the audience's relief that soap flakes coming from the ceiling and chest are the ''only'' things that the trick entailed, rather than something wildly morbid, like Peter bringing out Henry's dead body or actual ashes onstage.]]
*** Dan Olson of ''Webvideo/FoldingIdeas'' comes to the conclusion that [[spoiler:the snow machine actually had Henry's ashes in it.]] Or at least that this is the unintended visual metaphor the movie creates by having Peter promise to make his brother appear among the crowd, then spraying them with a white powder.

** Henry has Susan practice using a sniper rifle to murder Glenn with plywood targets, stating "plywood is only slightly thicker than the human skull." This makes no sense, as plywood can be bought in many different thickness types. It also wouldn't matter how thick the target is, Susan is practicing her aim, her level of skill will have no impact on whether the bullet penetrates Glenn's skull or not. ''WebVideo/FoldingIdeas'' also highlighted the pride that the creators took in this line, as it appears in the opening montage, despite the fact that Susan would be firing 0.30 caliber rifle at relatively close range directly to his head.

** It's a repeated thing that Henry feels the need to teach Susan about their finance. They are rich. She can just hire an accountant. As ''WebVideo/FoldingIdeas'' points out, not having to closely manage her finance is one of the privilege of being rich - you can have people do it for you.
* DesignatedHero: Arguably Henry. Despite the film’s attempt at framing Henry as a kid who’s mature and wise beyond his years, how he acts paints a different character. From his first scene alone, Henry insults another student in an improvised essay reading and condescendingly tells his teacher that he wants to stay in a class with kids his age for his psycho-social development – [[BlatantLies even though he is never seen interacting with any other classmate during lunch or recess in the movie.]][[note]]He spends all of his time playing checkers with the lunch lady -- and he curb-stomps the lunch lady in a single move the very second he needs to leave in a hurry, showing that he only dragged out the game for the sake of... wasting their time, probably? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMb7-6eg4Zo Dan Olson’s video ]] took issue about that because it was such a horrible cliche to begin with and also gives more ammo to the "Henry is an InsufferableGenius" camp.[[/note]] And that’s not getting into how Henry polices his own mother with how she spends her free time, takes care of the family and pretty much how she lives. He gets even worse after he dies. Yes, the abusive stepfather should be stopped; but one should ''not'' resort to murder as their first idea, ''much less coach one's mother to commit the act''. As [[WebVideo/FoldingIdeas Dan Olson]] put it, “[[JerkAss He’s actually a huge prick]]”, and it's surprising that he even wants to help Christina at all.

* FanMyopia: Despite the overwhelmingly negative reception this movie gained, one of the few positive reviews given to this movie was from WebVideo/ChrisStuckmann. While giving reviews contrary to common consensus regarding a movie isn't new for Chris, prior to this movie's release, he got to interview director Colin Trevorrow, where they discussed this film in particular. Whether or not this influenced Chris giving the movie a more positive review compared to other critics caused a bit of debate among the comment sections of Chris' video, ''WebVideo/FoldingIdeas''[='s=] videos, and ''WebVideo/MidnightScreenings''' video.

* MemeticMutation:
** From [[WebVideo/FoldingIdeas Dan Olson's]] review: "HE SCATTERS [[spoiler:HENRY'S ASHES]] OVER THE CROWD."[[note]]It's really fake snow from a snow machine, but the audience knowing it's snow and giving it a standing ovation makes no sense considering they have no idea that there was a snow machine in context to Henry.[[/note]]
** "GODDAMNIT, JANICE!" [[note]]From Dan Olson's ''second'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMb7-6eg4Zo video essay]] on ''The Book of Henry'', and to a lesser extent, WebOriginal/DoubleToasted and WebVideo/MidnightScreenings' respective video reviews of the film. The line is said by Henry to his principal. Throughout the review, Olson continues to refer to her solely as "Goddammit Janice", which only highlights the absurdity of the line from an ''eleven'' year old.[[/note]]

** As WebVideo/FoldingIdeas loves pointing out, since the audience in the final scene has no context for Henry's mountain climbing skit, their being told that Henry is about to appear before them followed by the snow blower likely gives the impression that Henry's ''ashes'' have just been blown all over them.

** And of course, [[https://twitter.com/FoldableHuman/status/1012381631519182849 Dan Olson]] offers his own thoughts on this comparison.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** [[WebVideo/MidnightScreenings Brad and Brian]] suggested that the film might've been more interesting if Glenn was actually innocent and Christina's injuries were caused by her practicing ballet.
** ''The Royal Ocean Film Society'' made a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnMn-wY5k6E video essay]] saying that the film could have worked if the tone was different. He even re-edits a fake trailer to make the film look like a Creator/WesAnderson movie. Becomes HilariousInHindsight as earlier drafts of the film played the story as a BlackComedy, and it was the director's decision to approach the material more dramatically.
** The film repeatedly makes mention of an unseen black market purchaser named Dominic, who's implied to be some kind of local crime lord. This detail never matters beyond giving Henry and Susan an excuse for purchasing a gun without any registration, with no mention of police investigating Dominic or what his cronies may be up to. Several viewers, including Olson, suggested he could've led up to an ironic ending where Susan is arrested for allegedly being connected to Dominic.

** In general, the plan ''might'' have seemed a lot more appealing had the film been made or set during the 90s (although not by much). However, as WebVideo/CinematicExcrement points out, since it's set in the modern day, it would be ''incredibly'' easy to just '''film''' the abusive stepfather while he's abusing Christina and post it online so he can't deny it, seeing as how the stepfather strangely always abuses Christina in front of an open window.[[note]]In fact, the plot wouldn't hold up much better if it had been made during the 90s either, since one could just as easily film the abuse and send it to the nearby news station; the only way Henry's suggestion would've been a good idea would be if it had been a BlackComedy as originally planned.[[/note]]

* HilariousInHindsight: Henry's monologue at the end about how to tell a story and to just "get the moral right; nothing else matters" comes off as outrageously ironic in wake of the film's negative reception.

* AwardSnub: In an inversion, despite the film being widely panned, it was completely ignored by the Golden Raspberry Awards.

*** Dan Olson of ''Webvideo/FoldingIdeas'' comes to the conclusion that [[spoiler:the snow machine actually had Henry's ashes in it.]]

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: A child who dies of cancer and wanted to help an abused neighbor... by planning to murder her father, an idea his mother decides to follow! No wonder audiences wouldn't buy something so weird and filled with contentious points.

* SnarkBait: The tonal clashes and overall insane plot made it a prime case, and many a VideoReviewShow made episodes on the film.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: A child who dies of cancer and wanted to help an abused neighbor... by planning to murder her father, an idea his mother decides to follow! No wonder audiences wouldn't buy something so weird and filled with contentious points. Many critics compared it to ''Film/RadioFlyer'', which provided a similar BrokenAesop that children should seek incredibly dangerous solutions to problems as a matter of course because AdultsAreUseless... and then the movie showcases that Adults ''aren't'' useless when it's (almost) far too late (because of said danger).

* DesignatedHero: Arguably Henry. Despite the film’s attempt at framing Henry as a kid who’s mature and wise beyond his years, how he acts paints a different character. From his first scene alone, Henry insults another student in an improvised essay reading and condescendingly tells his teacher that he wants to stay in a class with kids his age for his psycho-social development – [[BlatantLies even though he is never seen interacting with any other classmate during lunch or recess in the movie.]][[note]]He spends all of his time playing checkers with the lunch lady -- and he curb-stomps the lunch lady in a single move the very second he needs to leave in a hurry, showing that he only dragged out the game for the sake of... wasting his time, probably? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMb7-6eg4Zo Dan Olson’s video ]] took issue about that because it was such a horrible cliche to begin with and also gives more ammo to the "Henry is an InsufferableGenius" camp.[[/note]] And that’s not getting into how Henry polices his own mother with how she spends her free time, takes care of the family and pretty much how she lives. He gets even worse after he dies. Yes, the abusive stepfather should be stopped; but one should ''not'' resort to murder as their first idea, ''much less coach one's mother to commit the act''. As [[WebVideo/FoldingIdeas Dan Olson]] put it, “[[JerkAss He’s actually a huge prick]]”, and it's surprising that he even wants to help Christina at all.

* EsotericHappyEnding: The film ends [[spoiler: with Christina being adopted by the Carpenters and supposedly living happily ever after except just being adopted into a happy family isn't gonna get rid of the emotional scars she received from abuse or the trauma from finding out her stepfather had died.]]

** Henry has Susan practice using a sniper rifle to murder Glenn with plywood targets, stating "plywood is only slightly thicker than the human skull." This makes no sense, as plywood can be bought in many different thickness types. It also wouldn't matter how thick the target is, Susan is practicing her aim, her level of skill will have no impact on whether the bullet penetrates Glenn's skull or not.

** The story can't seem to make up its mind of whether Susan is a cool relatable mom or embarrassing and incompetent. For instance, her frequent video gaming is treated as her regressing into an [[ManChild adult child]], yet the same scene also establishes she continues to go to work even though financially she has no need to. Additionally, the first act sets her up as being an alcoholic, and this trait disappears entirely in the following half of the film.

* FanMyopia: Despite the overwhelmingly negative reception this movie gained, one of the few positive review given to this movie was from WebVideo/ChrisStuckmann. Prior to this movie's release, he got to interview director Colin Trevorrow, where they discussed this film in particular. Whether or not this influenced Chris giving the movie a more positive review compared to other critics caused a bit of debate among the comment sections of Chris' video, ''WebVideo/FoldingIdeas''[='s=] videos, and ''WebVideo/MidnightScreenings''' video.

* FanMyopia: Despite the overwhelmingly negative reception this movie gained, one of the few positive review given to this movie was from WebVideo/ChrisStuckmann. Prior to this movie's release, he got to interview director Colin Trevorrow, where they discussed this film in particular. Whether or not this influenced Chris giving the movie a more positive review compared to other critics caused a bit of debate among the comment sections of Chris' video, ''WebVideo/FoldingIdeas'''s videos, and ''WebVideo/MidnightScreenings''' video.