Honeyboy is an ambitious psychodrama. A brave screenplay by Shia LeBeouf about his childhood and abusive father. I didn’t always agree the choices of time changes between Shia as a 12-year-old boy (Noah Jupe) and as a man (Lucas Hedges). And I wished that the film didn’t feel like a therapy session. But these are minor complaints overshadowed by rich powerful direction and acting. Shia plays his father with a scary angry gusto. To me the revelation was Noah as young Shia. This is a subtly charged performance and a heartbreaking example of a child thrown into the role of a parent. There is a beautiful segment where Noah and a neighbor pantomime baseball. It is interchanged with scenes of Shia doing his own pantomime. It has a magical quality that lifts the film from heavy weight rage permeating through the movie.

(1) Honey Boy – Official Trailer | Amazon Studios – YouTube

Honey Boy (film) – Wikipedia