Beautiful Boy began its run in some of the world’s top film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival. Now, if you too want to cry uncontrollably, the movie is finally in cinemas.
Directed by Felix van Groeningen (The Broken Circle Breakdown), it stars Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet, a magnificent duo.
The film portrays the experience of crystal meth addict Nic (Timothée Chalamet) and his father David (Steve Carell)—a sensitive and heart-wrenching depiction.
Both Chalamet and Carell showcase both some of the best performances of their careers.
The acting in this film starts off incredible and only gets better as both the characters and plot develops.
The movie has a subtle yet powerful message about drug use, all while avoiding the common pitfall of glorifying it.
In one scene, David and Nic are smoking a joint to celebrate Nic’s acceptance to all six colleges he’d applied to.
It’s a happy scene—but alarms of mental health issues are ringing when Nic tells his dad about finding comfort and relief in getting high.
For him, it’s as good a form of escapism as any.
David tells him off, but doesn’t overthink the negative consequences this type of attitude could trigger until it’s too late. David and Nic’s relationship is as intense and close as it gets, but addiction is a beast no amount of love can tame.
Groeningen’s use of time is especially noteworthy. He tells the story non-linearly, without rushing through or missing anything.
Time slows when Nic stops using drugs and whizzes through when he hits a low point and relapses.
Despite his best efforts, Nic becomes more and more alienated from the people who love him the most.
It reminds us there is no one way to be addicted to drugs, and there’s no single journey to recovery.
In one scene, Nic tells his dad that knowing why he does things doesn’t change anything.
But David doesn’t give up and goes to extreme lengths, including doing drugs himself, to try and help his son. It’s hard not to think about the people with substance abuse issues who don’t have people like David in their life.
Be prepared to shed a tear or two not because it’s on the somber side of the spectrum, but because everybody in the movie is that good.
Whether it will have a good run during the Academy Awards season is hard to tell, but the cast and crew can rest assured they did an impeccable job at portraying addiction and its devastating effect on the lives of loved ones.
