Childhood trauma is the mostdangerous thing that can develop into a severe PTSD, damage the mind, destroythe kid inside out and leave only broken pieces that cannot be put together.But then, there’s another fact that matters; sometimes the same pain can bringa logical closure, make the child stronger. It may not be normal, but uniqueenough to realize you can’t be who you are if not the past you wanted to leavebehind. “Honey Boy” is both a tragic and a poetic film about a father-and-sonrelationship, how one abuses power and the other one absorbs it. But if not forthose events, no matter how heartbreaking they were, today we would not haveone of the greatest actors walking on earth – Shia LeBeouf.
“Honey Boy” is a deeply personaltrue story written by Shia LeBeouf and elegantly directed by Alma Har’El andfollows a child actor named Otis Lort (Noah Jupe) who works hard on set whileat home he struggles with his hard-drinking, sex offender father (Shia LeBeouf)who does everything he can to ruin the child’s life. The film offers atransitioning moment on how Otis as a child carries the pain caused by hisfather into his adulthood making the suffering his only companion in life.
The film opens with an adult Otiswho’s in the middle of filming an action scene. The next three minutes offersan image of a man who drinks alcohol, has uncontrollable attitude, angerissues, and has already had three altercations with the police. After ending upin rehab, his probation officer asks him to write an account of events thatbrought him to his current condition, as she diagnoses him with PTSD. In thenext scene we are taken to 1995, when the young Otis is on set, filming, whileat home his turbulent relationship with his father slowly makes him a troubledperson as he gets older.
“I am here not because of myfather”, shouts at his therapist and then continues, “my father was the reasonI work.” And then we are taken back to when he’s 12-years-old. It’s sadwatching his encounter with his parent when Otis, after a short emotionalexchange, says, “You would not be here if Iwould not pay you.” We quickly learn that Otis pays to his father to stay withhim. But the same father, who drinks, uses coarse language and has a terribleinfluence on his son demands perfection as an actor. He even tells him, if it’snecessary, we will stay up till the morning until you don’t learn your scene.
There’s a lot to grasp in “HoneyBoy”. It’s heavy and as the story develops, becomes painful to watch. As wefollow the father and son, the transitioning moment of life, and how Otis’therapist tries to help him to get rid of the pain, it was this moment thatwill leave the entire audience stunned: “The only thing my father gave me thathad value was pain. And now you want to take it away.” Otis, still in rehab,desperately tries to hang on to something that keeps him connected with hisfather, because apart from many other things, a slap is all that the boy wasgetting from his always drunk and demanding father.
As for performances, Noah Jupe asa young Otis who was planting the seed of trauma in his mind was absolutelyterrific. Lucas Hedges delivers a laudable performance as a grown-up Otis who became thereflection of his father with the trauma he carried since being a child, and ofcourse, Shia LeBeouf as the father who caused all that pain, but yet raises anactor known as Shia LeBeouf himself. Because let’s face it, no one would everbe able to write down the defining story of his life and portray his own fatherin the way Shia LeBeouf did. And that performance alone will shock you to thecore due to its scary realism we wish to never happen.
In the end, the beauty of this film is that itis not afraid to talk about vulnerability, a deeply profound relationship andthat sometimes it’s a gift to be able to turn pain into a strength that onlyfew can achieve. “Honey Boy” is much more than words can say. It’s more thanthe single mind can comprehend. But I guess calling it phenomenal is a goodstart. But please, feel free to come up with better words to describe howpowerful it is. Because if anything, this film deserves endless praise it sorightly deserves.
