Honey Boy (2019)

From a screenplay by Shia LaBeouf, based on his own experiences, filmmaker Alma Har'el brings to life a young actor's stormy childhood and early adult years as he struggles to reconcile with his father and deal with his mental health.

Director:

Alma Har'el

Writer:

Shia LaBeouf

Stars:

Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shia LaBeouf	...	James
Lucas Hedges	...	Otis (22)
Noah Jupe	...	Otis (12)
Byron Bowers	...	Percy
Laura San Giacomo	...	Dr. Moreno
FKA Twigs	...	Shy Girl
Natasha Lyonne	...	Mom
Maika Monroe	...	Sandra
Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Tom
Mario Ponce	...	Tiny
Martin Starr	...	Alec
Haylee Sanchez	...	Working Girl 1
Giovanni Lopes	...	Rehab Nurse
Dorian Brown Pham	...	Pam (as Dorian Pham)
Greta Jung	...	AD

Storyline

From a screenplay by Shia LaBeouf, based on his own experiences, award-winning filmmaker Alma Har'el brings to life a young actor's stormy childhood and early adult years as he struggles to reconcile with his father through cinema and dreams. Fictionalizing his childhood's ascent to stardom, and subsequent adult crash-landing into rehab and recovery, Har'el casts Noah Jupe and Lucas Hedges as Otis Lort, navigating different stages in a frenetic career. LaBeouf takes on the daring and therapeutic challenge of playing a version of his own father, an ex-rodeo clown and a felon. Artist and musician FKA twigs makes her feature-film debut, playing neighbor and kindred spirit to the younger Otis in their garden-court motel home. Har'el's feature narrative debut is a one-of-a-kind collaboration between filmmaker and subject, exploring art as medicine and imagination as hope.

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Plot Keywords:

2000s | written by star | alcoholic | father son relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual material and drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 November 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Honey Boy

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Automatik, Delirio Films, Kindred Spirit

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was written by Shia Labeouf, and is apparently a semi-autobiography about him and his father's relationship. He will also play the role of his father in it.

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Quotes

James: How do you think it feels to have my son paying me? How do you think that feels?
Otis (12): [sadly] You wouldn't be here if I didn't pay you.

User Reviews

Vulnerable

To show others your life exsperiances, to be vulnerable its beautiful, and it connects us, which is what we all want in life, beautiful human connection. I'm grateful I was able to view this movie at the Sundance theater last night. I was too nervous to ask a question during the Q and A session after the movie but wanted to ask if they purposely chose to portray the modeling behavior between son and father. I recently went to a parenting class by @simplyonpurpose where they mentioned that 90% of the time a child is punished for repeating the same behaviors as their parents, only 10% of the time are children actually being disobedient. This movie did a wonderful job portraying that inevitably in a few very powerful scenes. Anyways parenting was obviously on my mind so perhaps I found what I wanted to see. We can't choose our parents or control their behaviors. We can only choose to be better, do better, love deeper and make an effort to model the type of behavior that will benefit our future generations. Love, empathy, healthy coping skills, how we treat others....Anyways I loved it! I found it very emotional and think it will connect with a wide range of audiences.