Welcome back to another issue of Your Movie Mage, where I discuss underrated movies across genres. Last week, we discussed the low-budget but heartfelt Taika Waititi movie, “Hunt for the Wilderpeople.” This week, we’ll be talking about another low-budget movie starring Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe.
“Honey Boy” was written by LaBeouf and is a semi-autobiographical story, though the details of what was based on his life seems to change. LaBeouf plays the father, which is seemingly based on his own father. Otis, played by Hedges at age 22 and Jupe at age 12, seems to be based on LaBeouf’s life growing up as a child actor.
Creating movies that are based on the writer’s own life is typically difficult, as they’re quite biased and can make their character seem better than they are.
I think LaBeouf did a good job of making Otis flawed, as he provides context for Otis’ behavior without excusing it. Still, there wasn’t a lot of accountability, which is notable considering the allegations against LaBeouf both before and after this film.
Otis is a very pitiful character as a child, when we see his innocence and desire to feel loved by his father, who’s dealing with his own problems and taking it out on Otis. LaBeouf addresses why the father is the way he is, though he’s still clearly the bad guy.
Alternating between the years 1995 and 2005, when Otis is 12 and 22, respectively, was done masterfully. This allows viewers to see a cycle beginning to repeat, as Otis behaves like his father, despite being the opposite as a child. We see so much hope for a young Otis who recognizes his father’s faults, only to see him later as an adult, still trying to work through the trauma of his childhood and his relationship with his father.
The first few times I watched this movie, I was unaware of anything about LaBeouf, but it can be a different movie when you’re aware of the accusations against him. Initially, this movie felt like a very therapeutic admittance of past trauma and breaking the cycle of abuse. Watching now, the movie shows that healing trauma is an ongoing battle, as it doesn’t end by implying Otis or his father are fixed.
I found the cinematography gorgeous. This movie is overflowing with amazing scenes that were filmed creatively and use innovative audio techniques to tie past and present scenes together. The emotions are portrayed through incredibly well-written dialogue, as well as through the scenery, filming style and audio.
This film being semi-autobiographical makes sense, seeing as every character feels real. Their motivations and internal battles are made clear through their subtle actions and statements, which they use to shield their true feelings.
We also see a level of nuanced compassion for bad characters, mainly Otis’ father, that we don’t typically see in movies that are portraying abusive characters who are abusive but trying to deal with their own trauma. LaBeouf hadn’t spoken to his father for seven years leading up to this film, so writing this movie clearly made him think about how and why his father treated him poorly.
This movie gives insight into the life of child actors, something that’s been talked about extensively due to many former child actors speaking out after struggling. The movie explored this lifestyle and how it impacts kids, highlighting struggles that are less common for non-child actors, such as children paying their parents. Otis had the pressure of providing for his family. He paid his dad to be around and didn’t feel loved or supported by his dad.
There’s one scene where Otis is spending time with his neighbor, and he places money in her hand. On my most recent rewatch, I considered it was because Otis believes that he is obligated to pay people to spend time with him, as that’s how he views his relationship with his father.
They show how Otis was feeling in creative ways and then show how he acted because of those feelings. He yelled at his dad, but we know that he really just wishes his dad loved him. What Otis really said to his dad was much less calm and collected than what he was feeling and wanted to say, but it was a great representation of having complex feelings as a child and trying to express them unsuccessfully.
I give this film an underratedness score of 4.5/5. It’s incredibly personal and well-made. All of the actors and crew did an amazing job, which created a movie unlike any other I’ve seen. It also explores complex and nuanced themes that I haven’t seen in other films.