15 Deeply Tasteless Films That Will Offend Everyone
8. The Book Of Henry
Unlike most of the other films on this list, The Book of Henry is actually recommended viewing given how unintentionally hilarious it is, but it is an irredeemably awful movie that is at best misguided, at worst horrifically offensive.
This is a movie in which a child, Henry, is shown trying to murder a grown man who is abusing his step-daughter (Henry's crush). Henry is clearly a complete psychopath yet he is still depicted as a heroic figure. Henry, in a pointless mid-film twist, dies from a brain tumor but leaves behind notes and an audio-recording for his mother, who goes and nearly executes the plan to kill the stepfather with a massive sniper rifle.
That's right folks; here is a movie which more or less glamorizes a child trying to kill somebody. To add insult to injury, the film does nothing to criticize the neglectful, inappropriate parenting of Henry's mother (Naomi Watts) and the film's treatment of child abuse is completely inadequate, since nothing is shown, the abuser is hardly given any screen-time and the victim is given no agency whatsoever.
According to this, a child trying to murder someone who's a wrongdoer is OK. Don't listen to that message!