The Book Of Henry (2017)

The Book Of Henry (2017) Full Recap

A boy named Henry and his brother, Peter, wait at the bus stop for the school bus to arrive. After a while, the bus eventually arrives, and as Peter heads to his seat, a bully named Morris pushes him to the ground. Peter doesn't seem happy about this, but he just sits down beside his brother, who happens to be an 11-year-old genius. After they get to school, they head to their respective classes, and in Henry's class, the teacher tells the students to talk about their legacy.

A boy named Tommy stands in front of the class and talks about how he wants to be a great dodgeball player. He adds that he wants to win an Olympic gold medal in dodgeball so that he can inspire other kids to be like him. After he's done, the teacher commends him for speaking well, and she calls Henry to talk next. When Henry gets to the front of the class, he says it's quite interesting that people often talk about making their mark, even though it's something they do to avoid existential crisis.

He adds that one day, Tommy will eventually realize that his dream is not possible because dodgeball isn't even an Olympic sport. He also mentions that our legacy isn't just what we write on our resume or how many commas there are in our bank accounts. He says that it's about who we're lucky to have in our lives and what we can leave them with. As he mentions that everyone should do the best they can in the present, he ends his speech, and the teacher looks impressed with him.

Almost immediately, the school bell rings, and as the other students leave, the teacher tells Henry to remind her why he can't be sent to a gifted school. Henry says it's because being with his peers and interacting with them will help his psychological development. Shortly after, while waiting for his mom, Susan, to pick him and Peter up from school, he calls someone to talk about some trades he'd like to make in the stock market. After this, Susan arrives, and as Henry enters the car, he complains about it and tells his mom that she can just buy a new one because she can afford it.

Susan doesn't seem interested in doing this, and she mentions that there's no need to buy a new car if the old one is still working fine. Shortly after, they arrive home, and Henry heads to his treehouse in the woods to work on a chain reaction machine that he's making. While he's at it, Peter uses a walkie-talkie to ask if he can come over to meet his brother. He says he just wants to help, and he won't break anything like the last time.

Henry eventually tells Peter to come over, and as he gets to the treehouse, his older brother explains how he built the machine. Later that night, the boys return to the house, and while Susan plays a video game, Henry goes through the family's financial papers. He then asks Susan if their financial statement came in the mail earlier, and she says it did, but that she forgot to give it to him. Interestingly, it turns out that Henry is actually very smart, and he's the one who has been putting the family's finances together to ensure that they can have a secure future.

After he's done for the night, Susan reads a story from the children's book she has been writing. The kids seem to enjoy the story, and as she goes to drop her book, she sees Henry's Young Engineer Award medal on the table. She seems impressed and asks when he won it, but Henry just says that it's not a big deal. Peter says he would be happy if he won something like that, and Henry mentions that he can have it.

After Susan gives the medal to Peter, he asks if they can do movie night the next day. Susan says she can't because she'll be working late, and Henry mentions that he has always told her that she doesn't have to work anymore. Peter asks what he means, and even though Susan says it's nothing, Henry mentions that it's not necessary because she already has enough money in her accounts, and she can just focus on writing her book. Susan still seems interested in keeping her job, and she says goodnight to the boys, after which she asks if they would like the door closed or open.

The kids have different answers, but Susan eventually closes the door. The next morning, as Susan prepares breakfast for the kids, Henry shows her how to download their bank statement using a program he just installed. Susan doesn't seem to get this, but before she tries it again, her neighbor, Glenn, calls her outside. Susan heads out with the kids, and Glenn tells her to try to take care of her lawn because the leaves often fly over to his property.

Susan says sorry for this, and she promises to make amends. Almost immediately, she sees Glenn's stepdaughter, Christina, standing just by the door. Susan seems happy to see Christina, and she calls her to come outside. After they do their special handshake, Susan admires Christina's hair and asks how she's doing.

Just then, Glenn says he found Henry's walkie-talkie in the woods, and he returns it to him. Following this, Susan and the kids head back inside, and while holding Henry, she jokes about Christina being her future daughter-in-law. Henry doesn't really react to this, but Susan says that Christina is quite adorable. She adds that her stepfather isn't like that, and Peter agrees with her.

Much later, Susan heads to a local restaurant where she works as a waitress. Her boss, John, complains that she's late again, but Susan jokes that a dog ate her car. While she and her colleague, Sheila, are talking, John calls her and mentions that the new payroll girl has sent Susan’s paycheck to her house instead of waiting for her to come to work. Susan doesn't think it's a problem, and John asks if he can just set up a direct deposit for her if it's an easier way for her to get her salary.

Susan says she'll have to ask Henry about it, but John doesn't seem to understand why she has to ask her 11-year-old son. Susan says it's what she'll do, and she corrects John that her son is almost twelve. Elsewhere, Peter calls Henry to come and help him collect his medal from Morris. As Henry gets outside, he sees Christina sitting alone, so he goes to meet her to ask if she's fine.

Christina says she is, and before Henry asks any other question, he sees that Morris is about to beat up his brother. Henry then runs to help Peter and confront Morris for bullying his brother. As they walk away, Morris insults Peter for not being as intelligent as his brother. It also turns out that he has broken the medal, but Henry just takes his brother home.

When they get there, Peter seems pissed that Henry nearly allowed Morris to beat him up while he was talking to Christina. Henry says sorry for this, and he even invents a fake snow machine to make Peter happy. Shortly after, Susan arrives home with Sheila and looks surprised at how scattered the house looks. Sheila and Henry then playfully insult each other until Susan tells them to stop.

Later that night, Henry feels a strange pain in his head and uses his medication to relieve himself. He then stands by the window and sees Christina playing with a toy in her room while Glenn sits in the living room. As Henry continues watching Christina, he sees when she suddenly puts away the toy and goes to bed. Henry finds this weird, and as he looks at the living room, he sees that Glenn is no longer there.

He then realizes that Christina is being abused by Glenn, and that's why she has become so sad and quiet. The next day, Susan notices that something is wrong with Henry, but he just says that it's a headache. After they leave the house to head to school, Susan sees Christina sitting in front of Glenn's house, and she offers to give her a lift to school. As she enters Susan's car, Henry keeps staring at Christina, and he eventually asks if she's okay.

Christina says she is, but her look doesn't suggest that she's actually okay. When they get to school, Henry can't seem to forget about what he saw the previous night, and he heads to the principal's office to tell her to report the case to Social Services. The principal says she can't do that because there's no conclusive evidence that Glenn actually abuses Christina. She adds that Glenn is the local police commissioner and an upstanding member of their community, and she can't afford to report him because of some baseless allegations.

Henry looks disappointed by this, and he points out that Christina's bruises and recent poor performance in school are enough reasons for the principal to report Glenn. However, she still insists that there's nothing she can do, and Henry says he'll handle the situation by himself. Later that day, after Susan picks up the kids from school, they head to a supermarket to buy some supplies. Just as they're about to pay for the things they bought, Henry sees a lady being physically assaulted by a man inside the store.

He moves closer to try to understand what's happening, but Susan tells him that it's none of their business. She adds that interfering will only make things worse, and Henry looks disappointed by this. When they get home, Henry heads to his room and calls the Social Services Helpline to report Glenn. His complaints are registered, and Henry hopes that something will be done.

After this, he heads down to carry the grocery bags from the car. While he's at it, Christina comes over to give him a medal for Peter, to replace the one Morris broke. Henry thanks her for this, and Christina says she hopes Peter will like it. Almost immediately, Susan shows up and says that she heard Christina is going to do a dance at the school's talent show next month.

Christina confirms this, and Susan looks happy for her. As Glenn then comes outside, Susan asks if he's excited for the talent show, but he says that he's not really interested in things like that. After he heads back inside, Christina tells Susan that Henry and Peter are lucky to have her. Susan thanks her for saying this, and she mentions that she's sure Christina's father is lucky to have her too.

Christina doesn't look happy about this, and she corrects Susan that Glenn is her stepfather. Later that night, Henry asks Susan about what happened at the store earlier and why she didn't help the lady who was being assaulted. Susan says it wasn't their business, but Henry believes that if someone hurts another person, it should be everyone's business. Susan says she knows it seemed that way, but there was just nothing she could do.

Henry doesn't understand this, and he says that if everyone did that, no one would be able to look out for those who can't look out for themselves. Susan says she didn't want things to get violent, but Henry mentions that violence isn't the worst thing on Earth. Susan then asks what it is, and Henry says it's apathy. The next day, Henry sees an official from Social Services arriving at Glenn's house to investigate the anonymous call that was received the previous day.

Interestingly, the Social Services official seems to know Glenn, and he just accepts Glenn's word that there's nothing serious happening with Christina. Henry looks shocked by this, and he eventually realizes that the official who came over to the house is Glenn's brother, who happens to be the Social Services Director. This helps Henry understand why no one wants to investigate Glenn for abusing Christina. He then leaves the house with his bicycle and goes around the town while recording some of his findings with his voice recorder.

He also goes to a bookstore to buy some books on crime scene investigation. After this, he sneaks into a gun store and hides in a place where he can't be seen by the surveillance camera. He then watches a strange man trying to buy a gun from the owner of the shop. The man doesn't have a license to buy a gun, and the shop owner says he can't sell guns to people without the right license.

The man then says that someone named Domenic sent him, and the shop owner eventually agrees to sell the gun to him. After this, Henry leaves the store and heads home, only to see his mom playing a video game. He looks disappointed by this and says that she should be trying to put Peter to bed instead of playing a game. Susan says she'll stop playing it after she's done with her current level, but Henry tells her to drop it already.

Following this, Susan quits the game and heads to the room to put the kids to bed. In the middle of the night, Susan suddenly hears Peter calling her, and as she gets to the room, she sees Henry having a violent seizure while on the ground. Susan looks really scared, but she quickly takes him to the hospital. After he's given some first aid treatment, a doctor named David asks Susan if Henry has been having headaches or other symptoms.

Susan says it has only been a few times, but that it’s nothing serious. However, Henry shakes his head and tells David that he has been having headaches for about three to four months. Susan is shocked by this, and she asks why Henry didn't tell her anything. Almost immediately, David receives an MRI scan of Henry's brain and realizes that the situation is worse than he initially thought.

He then tells Susan that they have to take Henry for surgery, but that she has to sign off on it. Susan looks scared and doesn't know what to do, but as Henry starts having seizures again, David tells her to give them consent to do the surgery. Susan still looks scared and says that she can't sign off on it without asking Henry what he thinks. David finds this confusing and says that the consent has to be given by a parent.

Just then, Susan agrees to let David do the surgery, and Henry is taken to the surgical room. After the surgery is completed, David gives Susan an update, and she just leans into the doctor to cry. The next morning, when Henry wakes up, he asks Susan if everything is okay, but she doesn't know what to tell him. Shortly after, David enters the room and tells Peter to go outside with a nurse so he can talk to Henry and Susan.

Following this, David tells Henry that there's a tumor in his head. Henry looks disappointed and says that he should've known it was something serious when he kept having headaches and blurred visions. As he asks several questions about the tumor, David says it has spread to critical structures, and they weren't able to remove most of it. Henry looks sad about this, and he tells David and Susan that he wants to be alone.

After they leave the room, Henry thinks about his condition and does some reading, but he realizes that he won't be alive for long. The next day at school, Henry's teacher tells his classmates to design some cards that will be sent to Henry at the hospital. Christina then writes a message on her card, saying that she misses Henry. Later that day, Henry tells Susan that she has to bring him her financial files and retirement statements so he can look at them again.

Susan says they can do that next week, but Henry mentions that he might not be around by then. Susan looks sad as she hears this, and she leaves the room to get some water. When Peter enters the room, Henry says that he needs his brother to do something for him after he's gone. Peter cries when he hears this, but Henry says it's important for him to make their mom read his red notebook after he dies.

He adds that he's putting his trust in Peter to get it done. Peter says he'll do it, and he then asks where Henry will go when he dies. Henry says he doesn't know, but Peter says he's sure it will be good, and that everyone will want to be Henry's friend. The next day, Susan takes the financial documents to Henry, and as he advises her on the stocks to watch, she looks uninterested.

Henry says it's important for her to listen to him, but Susan mentions that she doesn't care about the financial files. She adds that she doesn't know how she'll cope without him. She also mentions that she doesn't know how to be a mother without him, but Henry says he never taught her that because she was always a good mom. Later that night, Henry slowly gets up from his bed and goes to the window to look at the sky.

Before he gets there, Susan sees him struggling on the ground, and as she holds him, he eventually dies in her arms. After Henry's death, Susan struggles to cope without him, and Peter also feels lonely, even though Christina now walks home with him. One day, after Peter returns home, he sees his mom mixing some ingredients to make cookies. Peter looks shocked because it's not something she used to do when Henry was still around, but Susan says she wants them to have dessert throughout the week.

Peter seems unhappy about this, and he even stops Susan from smoking. Susan says sorry to him for how she's acting, and she tries to explain that she's having a hard time dealing with Henry's death. Peter tells her to stop talking to him like a child because she's his mom. Susan realizes that she's not handling the situation well, and she thinks of what Henry would do.

Peter then tells her not to do that because she's an adult. Suddenly, David comes to the house to check up on them and see how they're doing. Susan says she's okay, and David goes to meet Peter, who mentions that he's not doing fine. David thinks he's still hurt about Henry's death, and he drops his card so that Peter can call him if he keeps feeling strange.

The next day, Susan misbehaves at work, and John tells her that it's best if she goes back home. He adds that Henry sent him a letter from the hospital and mentioned that Susan has enough money to be without a job. Susan looks disappointed by this, but she eventually leaves the store. Sheila follows her to ask how she's doing, and she says she's fine.

Days later, Peter sees Henry's red notebook and remembers what Henry told him to do. As he reads some parts of the book, he runs to meet his mom to tell her that he thinks Henry wanted to kill Glenn. Susan looks shocked by this, but as she reads the book, she realizes that Henry wanted to do that because he felt it was the only way to protect Christina. Susan thinks she can just call social services, but Peter shows her a page in the book where Henry mentioned that calling them won't work.

After a while, Susan calls the school Principal, but she still insists that she can't do anything because there's no conclusive evidence against Glenn. Susan then heads to the police department, but before she even leaves her car, she sees Glenn outside talking to a cop, and she realizes that reporting him won't work. Later that night, after she puts Peter to bed, Susan looks out of the window and sees Christina sitting down in her room, looking dejected. After a while, Glenn enters the room, and Susan confirms that he has actually been abusing her.

Almost immediately, she runs downstairs and calls his phone so that she can get him to leave Christina alone. After he answers the phone, Susan talks about the leaves on her lawn and says that she'll get it cleared. When the call ends, Susan checks Henry's book and realizes that it might be the only way to save Christina. She eventually sees a page in which Henry tells her to check the safe, and as she does this, she sees Henry's voice recorder inside.

As she plays it, she realizes that Henry has left her some instructions that will make it easy for her to kill Glenn without anyone suspecting her. For the first part of the plan, Henry tells Susan to withdraw some cash from different ATMs in the town. After she does this, she heads to the gun shop and says that she wants to buy a sniper rifle. The shop owner says he can't sell it to her without a license, but Susan mentions that Domenic sent her.

With this, she gets the gun and heads into the woods to start practicing how to hit her target. Days later, she goes to Glenn's house and says that she has some questions for him. He then welcomes her in, and as Susan enters the house, she notices that Christina is scared of him. After they sit together, Susan says that as a single parent, she has been wondering what would happen to Peter or where he would be sent to if she dies.

As she asks if Glenn has made any arrangements for that in his own case, he says he's still healthy, and he doesn't think much about it. Susan then says that she needs him to sign off on the talent show night if he still wants her to take Christina. After Glenn signs the note, Susan says she'll pick up Christina the next day for the show. When she returns to the house, it turns out that the note was fake, and she only used it to get Glenn's signature so she can forge it and make herself Christina's guardian after Glenn dies.

Just then, Peter comes downstairs and sees her talking to herself while she listens to a part of Henry's recording where he said that he has bought a new car for her because she needs a faster getaway car. Peter asks what his mom is doing, but Susan says she’s just finishing up with her work. After this, she takes him to his room and asks if he's ready for the talent show the next day. Peter says he is, and that he's going to do a magic trick.

Susan asks if he's ready, and he says he is, but that he's also slightly nervous. Susan says there's no need to be nervous as long as he's prepared, but Peter mentions that if Henry did the trick, it would’ve been perfect. Susan asks what he means, and he says that he sometimes wishes that he were the one who died because he feels it would make people less sad. Susan cannot believe that he'd say something like that, and she tells him that he's just as special as Henry was.

After she leaves the room, Susan cries because she feels responsible for making Peter think he should've died instead of Henry. The next day, Susan takes Christina and Peter to the talent show. Surprisingly, David shows up, and Peter says he was the one who invited the doctor. David asks Susan if it's okay that he's around, and she says it is.

However, she mentions that she won't be able to sit with him because she's a parent volunteer for the night. After the show begins, Susan sets her timer and leaves the school with her new car. She then heads to the woods to begin the last phase of Henry's plan, which involves killing Glenn while everyone thinks she's at the show. After she uses a recording of a whistle to lure Glenn into the woods, she gets the rifle ready and looks prepared to shoot him from inside Henry's treehouse.

Suddenly, she gets distracted and hits one of Henry's chain reaction machines. Susan still looks ready to shoot Glenn, but just as she sees the end result of the chain reaction machine, which shows a picture of her kids, she decides against doing it. She also realizes that she hasn't been acting like an adult, and she shouldn't have followed through with Henry's plan. Susan then leaves the treehouse, only to see Glenn standing outside.

The Book Of Henry (2017) Ending Explained

As he sees her with the rifle, he asks what's happening, and she confronts him about abusing Christina. Glenn says that no one will believe her over him, and that he'll call his police chief to come and arrest her. Susan then asks if he can really afford a scandal, because she can. She adds that she'll report to the FBI and the local newspapers about what he has done.

She also mentions that she'll make sure he regrets everything he did to Christina. After he walks away, Susan throws the rifle into the river where Henry wanted her to dump it. Elsewhere, Christina dances at the talent show, and as she seems sad, the principal feels sorry for her and decides to do what Henry had been telling her to do. Following this, some cop cars head to Glenn's house, but before they get there, Glenn calls his brother to deny any potential allegations that might come up against him.

His brother says it's late already because the principal has already reported it, and the case is now bigger than him. Glenn looks shocked by this, and as he hears some cop cars arriving at his house, he looks disappointed. Back at the talent show, Peter performs next and says that his magic trick is to bring his brother back to life and make him appear in the room. After he opens the box he brought to the stage, he kicks it, and fake snow starts coming out of it.

Everyone applauds him, and Susan also arrives right on time to hug him. After the show ends, David praises Peter for his performance, and he says that he hopes to see Susan again soon. Almost immediately, a cop car arrives at the school, and as Susan goes toward it, she sees the principal and asks what happened. The principal then says that Glenn killed himself when the cops got to his house, and that the social worker has asked to speak to Christina alone.

Just as Christina sees her, she leaves the social worker and runs to hug Susan. Days later, Susan is granted permanent custody of Christina, and they start living together along with Peter. Shortly after, Susan burns Henry's notebook and recording tape because she believes it's time to move on. Later that night, she reads one of her stories to Peter and Christina, and they tell her that they love it.

As they then get ready to sleep, Susan asks if she should leave the door open or closed. They both say they want it closed, and Susan does just this and heads to her room. After finding out that Christina is being abused by Glenn, Henry works on a plan to kill him. Unfortunately, he dies before he can complete his mission, and he leaves some instructions for his mom to kill Glenn.

Susan initially decides to do it, but just before she pulls the trigger, she realizes that she’s making a big mistake that could leave Peter without a mother. Glenn eventually kills himself before he can be arrested, and Susan is granted custody of Christina without having to commit a crime. Even though Henry’s plan was aimed at protecting Christina, it could’ve easily made the situation worse for everyone involved. Sometimes, choosing not to act out of anger is what truly protects the people we love.