Honey Boy

"PTSD? I thought only soldiers and Black people got that shit?" A line of dialogue from the middle of Honey Boy that hits home hard on many levels. Spoken by an African American man, it speaks to the lived experience of the downtrodden while simultaneously showing just how misunderstood post traumatic stress disorder really is. It's a brutally honest moment in the middle of a brutally honest film.

2005. Otis is 22. He's an actor and he's going off the rails. Alcohol is his crutch and he's leaning on it far too heavily. A drink driving incident sees him in court ordered rehab and he's not one bit happy about it. Rewind 10 years to 1995. Otis is a precocious child actor on the verge of the big time. His father James is his manager. James means well but he's an abusive asshole living out his failed dreams through his son. Young Otis tries to stand tall but in his own words "I'm only 12."

Remember that time a few years ago when Shia LaBeouf became Hollywood's bad boy and it felt like it came out of nowhere? The kid from Holes, Disturbia and Transformers, Will Smith's buddy from I, Robot, what happened to him? Well now we know. Honey Boy is his story and it rubs our face in it all, it's a film that lays all his guts bare for us to see. It's very good but jesus christ it's grim. Abuse and neglect abound. It's an unflinchingly honest confessional, yes, the names are changed but this is Shia's origin and we see every strange little bit of it. Oh and by the way, he plays his own abusive father in it too. Eek. That's one way to exorcise your demons ain't it.

He's phenomenal in the role. Transformed by a horrible haircut and a rough Southern accent, his horrible actions are never soft soaped but he's also a believably human character pained by the fact that he lives off his son's earnings. An AA unburdening of past sins is a stunning moment when you'll hate him and feel sorry for him at the same time. Noah Jupe as young Otis does mighty work too. Like LaBeouf his part never once feels like a performance and it's so hard watching this little fella suffering. Between this, Le Mans' 66 and A Quiet Place it's been quite the 18th months for this young actor. He'll be around a long time and I can only hope his real life circumstances are as far from what's depicted here as possible.

These two are so good that the film stutters a tad when the narrative returns to 2005 and older Otis deals with his problems. As good as Lucas Hedges is the story feels a bit trite and cliched here with primal screams and hug therapy (yup) leading the way. It is set in Hollywood after all. It jars with the harsh past and brings the film to a climax that doesn't quite feel earned but thankfully the film's twisty chronology gives us loads to chew on; a young Otis encounter that starts off creepy but ends up almost dreamlike; a knife edge barbeque encounter and a brace of blistering motel room conversations.

LaBeouf, in a bid to prove his worth on the 2014 film Fury, actually scarred his own face, past pain bubbling to the surface, and now we get to see him not only play the man who caused that pain but play him with a sympathetic edge. It's a condemnation but there's still love there too. As such Honey Boy's a unique watch. The type of intense cathartic drama that rarely gets a wide release these days. You won't leave smiling but you'll be glad you stayed until the end. You may even want to watch Transformers again.....ok maybe not.

In cinemas now.