While my initial interest in Honey Boy was captured by its A24-like atmosphere, it was solidified when I found out that it was a semi-autobiographical drama written by Shia LaBeouf concerning the relationship he had with his father as a child.
Honey Boy tells the story of Otis Lort (Lucas Hedges) an actor who joined the business at a young age. His story starts in 2005 where he has been sent to rehab for the third time following a DUI. After a provisional diagnosis of PTSD, Otis is asked to explore his childhood - where we see the relationship between a younger Otis (Noah Jupe) and his father James (Shia LaBeouf) explored.
While this film is consistent in many areas, it’s performances are what shine throughout, particularly in its main three characters. While the performances of Otis given by Jupe and Hedges displayed are tonally different, their moulding of the film’s emotional impact is mutual. As a younger Otis, Jupe portrays a child who, despite having an optimistic career path and a strong income, longs more than anything to seek affection from his father. He delivers an emotionally captivating performance that portrays Otis’ fading childhood innocence, equal parts tender and tragic. It drives one of the film’s most emotional scenes and adds unique subtleties to Otis’ character that work to serve his narrative as an adult.
Hedges’ performance sees this innocence corroded away. As an adult, Otis is rattled by confusion, anger and denial surrounding his mental state and his past. Through this performance, we see the devastating impact of Otis’ traumatic childhood that hosts some of the film’s best moments. In a similar fashion to Jupe, heoperates on a range of emotions, echoing both the devastation of his childhood and the personality of his father. It’s a knockout performance from Hedges that not only cements him as one of Hollywood’s best upcoming actors, but one of its most diverse.
Playing as a dramatised version of his father, LaBeouf’s delivers his best acting yet. It’s a remarkable performance that also serves as a powerful portrayal of mental health. He portrays a father who, despite all his flaws and moral struggles, simply wants the best for his son. This makes for an emotionally complex character whose narrative is consistently engaging. LaBeouf’s performance matches this complexity, display a striking range of emotion that never loses focus. It’s one of my favourite performances of the year and the kind that is impossible to recast.
I enjoyed Natasha Brier’s cinematography work not only for its stunning visual cohesion, but in supporting the film’s focused character development. Its use of colour is intriguing when distinguishing between Otis’ childhood and his adulthood. Scenes with Jupe are bathed in warm colours that reflect the optimism and carelessness of youth, although when we see Hedges, this palette desaturates - mirroring the bleaker setting of rehab, Otis’ struggles with addiction and the loss of childlike innocence.
LaBeouf’s script is tender, personal and emotionally cathartic. The character writing of Otis and James is some of the most effective I’ve seen in regard to mental health, wherein empathy and emotional depth is achieved quickly without compromising on substance. Another character whose writing I enjoyed was Shy Girl, played by FKA Twigs. While she doesn’t have many lines, her actions and the symbolism of her bond with Otis strengthens Honey Boy’s emotional impact.
All of this is punctuated by the film’s score, performed by Alex Somers (Captain Fantastic, Black Mirror). It’s a wonderfully tender score that reflects both the tension and honesty the film presents, accentuating viewer empathy for the characters and fuelling emotion. While there may not be any particular standout tracks, it creates a unique, memorable, atmosphere that sets the tone for the film and then sets it apart from other OSTs like it.
In conjunction with LaBeouf’s script, Alma Har’el has delivered a powerful film. Through her directorial focus on the core themes of tenderness, conflict and resolve, she has handled sensitive topics in a controlled, mature, manner that differentiates it from other coming-of-age dramas like it. In its quietest moments, Honey Boy is a tenderly bittersweet film about the dysfunctional relationship between a father and a son. At its loudest, a devastating meditation on the impact of childhood trauma.