Honey Boy

Honey Boy is a pretty extraordinary film. It's a film about Shia LaBeouf written by Shia LaBeouf in which Shia LaBeouf plays his own abusive father. This descriptions seems like it would describe a train wreck, but what it instead describes is an artist's own unflinching look at his own abusiveness, his obsessions with his father and his father's demons, and a generosity toward this man who didn't know how to deal with his son. The whole thing is moving and funny and weird. I absolutely loved it.

As to be expected, Shia's acting is great. Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe (both playing Shia) are excellent. There's also a kind of motif of chickens throughout that I cannot explain at all but that I loved.

Three of my favorite films this year – Honey Boy, Marriage Story, and Pain & Glory – have involved artists examining themselves in ways that feel unsparing and truly critical. I fully appreciate this from these filmmakers. Their willingness to go in and dig around and dredge up their own uglinesses seems very brave to me, and I find it very exciting.