Film Review: Honey Boy

What Shia Labeouf does in Honey Boy is nothing short of incredible. The film is a massive high-wire act. Shia wrote the first draft of the script in rehab as a form of drama therapy. He also plays a version of his father. It’s an incredibly selfish act, but it’s one I understand. I use screenwriting as a form of therapy regularly. Mine aren’t quite this good.

Honey Boy could have been 90 minutes of self-aggrandizement. It is not. The script and performances instead contribute to an act of introspection and relief; Shia does not make himself out to be a hero or a victim, nor does he make his father out to be a pure mustache-twirling villain. They’re people. People do hurtful things to each other and Honey Boy is one of the best realizations of that idea in quite some time.

The film is not an easy watch. It lays Shia’s PTSD and his attempts to combat it in plain sight through a stand-in named Otis. Some moments feel real to anyone who struggles with PTSD in their daily life. Violence, grief and tension permeate the film. They take on more than physical forms. It’s in the editing and how the film switches between a 12-year-old Otis (Noah Jupe) in 1995 and a 22-year-old 10 years later (Lucas Hedges). The latter treats the former as a series of nightmares he can’t escape from and eventually confronts directly.

It’s in the screenwriting and how the two sections are balanced. There are very few direct and obvious callbacks in the film. The 2005 Otis doesn’t want to access those memories directly. Recollection is forced on him by his environment as he struggles with rehab. His rehab includes cleaning out a chicken coop. The 1995 Otis is naive, scared and maybe a little too smart for his own good. He lies to secure his safety and is used as a messenger between his mother and father; neither are very nice people. It’s easy to sympathize with Shia’s attempts to drown his sorrows in nicotine and booze, but the film does not condone them by any means.

Most of the camerawork is handheld, giving the film a jittery feeling. The camera always seems on edge as if it’s going to run away. But it doesn’t. For all the shakiness, the camera never flinches. Viewers see every act of violence Otis and his father perpetrate and receive. The true acts of violence are spread out enough viewers are never numb to it, but the verbal and emotional abuse starts at frame one and never stops.

It’s a credit to Alma Har’el’s direction that the technical aspects of the film support the script as much as they do. The script is so specific and so tight that a less capable pair of hands would’ve completely fumbled it. Har’el, in her fictional feature debut, completely nails it and establishes herself as one of the most exciting directing talents out there.

My one major problem with the film is the casting of FKA Twigs in a vital role. She plays Otis’ love interest in 1995. Noah Jupe is 14. She’s 31. Twigs is pretty good in the part, but…yeah, I’ll leave it at that.

Honey Boy is an incredible film. The script is stunning, the performances are top-notch and the balls required to make this thing at all are apparent. It’s a vital film that everyone should see. Just don’t count on enjoying the experience.

Final score: 9.4/10