Honey Boy review: Shia LaBeouf’s superb autobiographical tale delights from the off – a compelling tale set featuring excellent performances from all involved.
Honey Boy review – Image Courtesy of TIFF
From a screenplay from Shia LaBeouf himself comes his autobiographical tale Honey Boy, a feature based on his own life, written when he was in rehab as part of his process to recovery. Set in two timelines, 1995 and 2005, the film focusses upon a relationship between a father, James Lort (LaBeouf) and his son Otis, portrayed by both Lucas Hedges at the age of 22, and Noah Jupe at 12.
22-year-old Otis is an actor, a successful one too, evident from the opening frames when we meet him being flung around movies sets on safety wires, big-budget practical effects going off all around him and green screen scattered in the gaps. Otis’ 12-year-old self is also already an actor, quietly grafting away at his craft ‘assisted’ by his father, a reformed addict, and offender now living off the profits made by his son from his growing acting career. There is fracture there, Lort living in a small motel in Los Angeles having split from Otis’ mother following an incident while intoxicated in a car.
Fast forward ten years and a now successful Otis whose life has gone off the rails, the promising young actor checking into rehab after crashing his own car under the influence. The story of Honey Boy is reportedly based on LaBeouf’s own life – the title is apparently a nickname that the actor had when he was younger – and his relationship with his own father, a fact that gives the film an extra emotional punch.
Starting with the cast; they are all fantastic, LaBeouf especially, effectively playing his own father; Hedges playing the LaBeouf character and then young Noah Jupe, who is particularly fantastic in another breakthrough role as the young Otis. Alma Har’el’s direction is also welcomed, a filmmaker who has also benefited from having a close bond with LaBeouf away from the camera. There are also appearances from the likes of Maika Monroe, Natasha Lyonne and Clifton Collins Jr, all of whom have fleeting roles, but absolutely deliver. Also worthy of mention is FKA Twigs in a feature debut, another stand-out in a breakthrough role, one simply named ‘Shy Girl’. While often muted, her performance is daring and key to proceedings, her presence mother-like in a world where one is absent. I thought she was excellent.
Related: American Honey review
There’s a lot to unpack in the film, and it is a movie that will have you thinking long after the credits roll. Archive stills that play throughout hit home the authenticity of the piece again, and just how candid its writer has been with sharing his past with the world and securing his status as being one of our best actors working today. It veers from self-indulgence with superb writing and, from a screen-performance point of view, LaBeouf has never been better. These elements and more makes Honey Boy one of the most unmissable dramatic movies of the year. Hard-hitting, often funny, compelling stuff.
Honey Boy was reviewed at the TIFF 2019.
