Honey Boy (Review)
Honey Boy is One of the Most Heartbreaking Movies of the Year.
Honey Boy might be the most heartbreaking movie I’ve seen in theaters all year. It’s a very personal story from writer and star Shia LaBeouf based on his childhood as a Disney channel star. Honey Boy is an absolutely brutal, haunting story and evokes an almost painfully visceral reaction as it unfolds. It’s easy to see that LaBeouf poured everything into telling this story and in the end, I feel absolutely horrible for joking about him or the crazy things he did while trying to work through the obvious trauma he suffered. While it might be a hard movie to watch, it’s so damn good.
Turns out that being a child star isn’t as fun as you might think. Fictional actor, Otis (portrayed by Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe) is living proof of that. Despite seeming to have a great life as a young actor, the truth was that it was a living nightmare thanks to his abysmal father (Shia LaBeouf). Living off a per diem in a trashy hotel (reminiscent of the one seen in The Florida Project), he’s subjected to constant ridicule and abuse by a father jealous that his son succeeded where he failed. Now back in his son’s life after a stint in jail for sexual assault and recovering from years of abusing drugs and alcohol, he’s essentially being paid to take care of his kid. This isn’t lost on his son, who wants nothing more than to hear that his father loves him. Years later, Otis has to face the fact that his dad was a @#$%&*# and unpacks his trauma in court-ordered rehab.
Shia LaBeouf is the heart and soul of Honey Boy. He puts the script in the capable hands of documentary filmmaker Alma Har’el to tell one of the darkest movies about filmmaking I’ve ever seen. It’s a gut-wrenching film based on his own experiences and with that comes the most powerful performance of his career. You can feel the energy radiating off of him in every scene and it is intense, to say the least. That’s probably because he has so much invested in the story. After all, he is quite literally bearing his soul to the world in this film. The end result is simply awe-inspiring, and the rest of the cast feeds off it and gives back just as much, especially Noah Jupe (who was also in this year’s Ford v Ferarri) who plays the younger Otis. He spends most of the film holding back tears, which only makes Honey Boy all the more heartbreaking.
It hurt watching the events of this film unfold. Otis’ father is a piece of garbage with his shallow charisma and petty jealousy. He’s prone to fits of rage over self-perceived slights, even going so far as to assault Otis’ “big brother” (Clifton Collins Jr.) for daring to get closer to his son than he ever could. At the same time, he sees affection as a sign of weakness and Otis has to literally turn to a prostitute (FKA Twigs) for it because she actually treats him like a kid. He only pays her to cuddle with him, which is just all the sadder to watch. When he does try to confront his father, he ends up getting belittled and slapped around. Finally, he realizes that his father is only there because he pays him to be. It’s no wonder that Otis is eventually filled with rage and acts out in an attempt to gain the kind of personal attention he never received as a child. What makes it even more painful is that he knows how screwed up his dad was, going so far as to say, “the only thing my father gave me that is of any value is trauma.”
Alma Har’el turns out to be the perfect director for Honey Boy due to her documentary background. Her objective camera work captures everything and manipulates the viewer subtly into thinking that she is capturing a more genuine truth. She mostly captures the spirit of the film during the golden hour (when the sun is setting) creating plenty of artistic lens flares that more intimate, which is all the more palpable when combined with the cramped two-bed room they share. Forced together in such a confined space, the two can’t help clashing. This is contrasted by the future scenes in rehab where Otis has room to roam but is still trapped somewhere he doesn’t want to be. At the same time, there is such a clear reflection between Hedges and Jupe that it’s simply uncanny. Together they paint a portrait of the suffering that LaBeouf must have felt all these years.
Honey Boy is a painful movie to watch because it’s about pain. The fact that there is a child involved makes it all the more visceral as Otis struggles to find humanity when he’s seen as little more than a meal ticket. At times, it borders on excruciating, but I have nothing but respect for LaBeouf having told it. Honey Boy is a movie that must be seen to truly appreciate just how hard it must be for children in Hollywood. At the same time, it’s one of those films that I’m glad to have seen but never to watch again. One thing is certain, I’m never going to make a joke at LaBeouf’s expense ever again.
