Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy is an emotional story about the effects of drug addiction on relationships and family dynamics. Focusing on the bond between a dad and his son, and how drug addiction can affect even the best of people. Bringing attention to an important issue in today’s society, especially with youth. This is one of those movies that really makes you think about the world around you and what the reality of these situations can be. Beautiful Boy is a drama based off of two memoirs. Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction, written by the father, David Sheff, and Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines written by his son Nic Sheff. I think what is important to remember when watching this film is that it’s about real people and their very real struggles.




This film came out at TIFF back in 2018 and stars Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet as father and son. I think the acting in this film really stands out, with a really incredible performance by the two actors. They bring raw emotion and talent to this production. The film really emphasizes how drug addiction not only affects the person involved but the people around them. In this film they focused on the father as he goes through this every step of the way with his son. He wants to understand why he does what he does and what the drugs are doing to him. He desperately wants to reconnect with his son and help him through it. Emphasizing how it eats away at him to see his boy fighting with himself like this.




The only issue I had with this film was the pacing, as it was really slow at some parts of the film. I also found that the jumping around the timeline made it confusing at times, especially around the beginning of the film. I liked how they used sound and music to help set the mood of the scenes. This really helped to add emphasis to how character’s were feeling and the emotion displayed on screen.




The film uses a variety of interesting camera angles and locations. I think these aspects of the film were used very creatively and was a smart artistic choice. A couple examples of this is the scene in the diner where it is shot from below instead of across, or when David talks to the lady in the restaurant, where his reflection can be seen in the mirror. In terms of location I think they deliberately chose very beautiful locations to shoot in, which also helps to create interesting shots.




To conclude, I really enjoyed this film and think as many people as possible should see this film as well. This is a movie made to bring awareness to an important issue. It’s a learning experience and I think more people need to educate themselves about heavy topics like this one. Especially teenagers and youth not only to see the damage drugs can do to your body, but the effects it can have on the other parts of life. I think you should see this since it really is a great film and shows how cinema can be used to tell personal stories like this one.