Author: Marisa Reyes-Pacheco
I cry at a lot of things. I knew I would probably cry while watching Honey Boy (2019), but not for the reasons I expected. I personally do not know if I will ever recover from the emotional turmoil that this film possesses. Directed by Alma Har’el with a screenplay written by Shia LaBeouf, the R-rated drama serves as an autobiographical piece reflecting on LaBeouf’s turbulent childhood, and its consequences for him later in life.
This film has been highly anticipated since buzz about its production. A child star, especially one as notorious as LaBeouf, coming forward and saying: “Hey, while you all were laughing at me on Disney, I went home every night after filming to a toxic environment that made me question my worth!” is so unprecedented. Honey Boy is raw, real and does not hold back in any way. LaBeouf lived this and will continue to for the rest of his days; choosing to share this with the world is genuine and brave. If you are familiar at all with pop culture and the terrible ways the media tears artists down, maybe the last you heard of Shia LaBeouf was related to his fashion choices for premiere of Nymphomaniac (2014) at the Berlin Film Festival. He wore a paper bag with the words “I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE” on his head and only then did anyone seem concerned for his well being. Honey Boy is the explanation for every public outburst, all of the bad press, and literally why Shia LaBeouf is who he is today.
Actors Noah Jupe and Lucas Hedges play the role of Otis, the fictional stand in for LaBeouf. Jupe is depicted as the child-star, aged 12, while Hedges is an older LaBeouf who is having a stint in rehab. The skilled inter-sequencing of events allows audiences to interpret the psychological impact of LaBeouf’s childhood on his mental health in adulthood. Sometimes blurring between flashbacks, dreams and reality, it is executed so well in post-production that when LaBeouf wants you to be confused, there is a reason behind it. The most confusing yet moving part of the film comes from the role LaBeouf gave himself: James Lort, who is to be interpreted as his father. Already being completely transparent for even allowing the film to exist, LaBeouf gives an outstanding performance of the man who shaped his mindset, character and quite literally raised him. The film does not hold back on the damage endured; for LaBeouf to quite literally be reliving the trauma he lived through from the perspective of the man who caused it is not only unheard of, it is absolutely genius. Nobody will ever know who this man was, how he acted and treated people or the impact it had except for Shia LaBeouf, the man’s son, himself. While watching, it never left my mind that Otis was LaBeouf until LaBeouf, playing Lort, was on screen at the same time as actors playing Otis. Shia LaBeouf did not hold back and excelled at the role, projecting the dominance of Lort onto other characters throughout the film to truly portray his father as he remembered him at that time.
Childhood neglect, rehab, and struggling with stardom are all things I can completely empathize with, but that I have never experienced. LaBeouf made me feel as though these are the things that made him into who he has wanted to be. By that, I mean in the sense of an artist, filmmaker and son. As a whole, this project and its meaning to LaBeouf and his ability to overcome made me more emotional than anything. This is the story Shia LaBeouf has been waiting to tell: his story, and nobody will ever be able to take it away from him.
Marisa Reyes-Pacheco | KXSU Arts Reporter