While in university, I was in an expository writing class that offered one of the most impactful lessons for me - that of context. Simply put, engaging with any kind of art and/or story without knowing much about it going into can lead to the greatest kinds of experiences. When we hear a synopsis of a story, we make assumptions about what to expect based on that synopsis. Whether we’re conscious of it or not, we make preemptive generalizations about a story based off of our experiences of similar stories in order to help us prepare ourselves for experiencing whatever this new story may bring to the table. It is when we’re without that context, though - when we don’t know what kind of story we’ll encounter - those instances are when we experience stories that perhaps entrance and engage us the most.

Beautiful Boy, Felix Van Groeningen’s adaptation of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, was a film that I only heard of in passing, only hearing the title and that there were very few showings of it in my area. While I also heard in passing that the story involved drug addiction to some capacity, I was not aware of the film’s context or circumstances involving that drug addiction. With nothing more than knowing a vague idea that may or may not have been a key focus in the film, I chose to keep my knowledge limited until seeing the film for myself.

After a few weeks of patience for the film to make its rounds in my area, I went to go see Beautiful Boy without knowing any real details about it. When I left the theater, I found myself blown away by a film that was bravely intimate and left a profound statement on how drug addiction impacts families. Perhaps more than anything else, however, Beautiful Boy’s ultimate concern to its audience is highlighting the solace that familial love can provide, even in the most hopeless and oppressive circumstances.

Throughout the film, we see David Sheff, a fairly wealthy remarried writer, observe his son Nic - someone he thought he knew very closely - fall into the depths of crystal meth addiction. This is all established to us in the first shot of the film, to which we briefly backpedal, showing us the context as to how David discovers his son’s addiction, and how David and his family go about trying to help Nic.

What starts as simply having Nic be in a rehabilitation center gradually becomes an internal tug of war for Nic. There are instances where Nic begins to depend and comfortably live alongside his parents or even independently, until he eventually reverts back to heavily using meth, even overdosing on numerous occasions throughout the film.

One of the most powerful examples of this is when we see Nic head off to college. After having been in rehab for a couple months, previously stating that he doesn’t think he should go to college, Nic ultimately decides to pursue his post-secondary education, and things seem to go well for him. He enters a relationship and seems to find happiness without resorting to meth to fill the “black void inside of him”, as he describes in the film. But this solace doesn’t last forever. We see Nic eventually fall back into relying on meth, causing him to lose his relationship in addition to him dropping out of college to live with his parents again.

This cycle manages to repeat itself numerous times throughout the film. Every time we see a glimmer of hope - the tiniest bit of assurance that perhaps Nic is on a path towards living an addiction-free life -, we’re always crushed with the bitter reality that prevents such from happening. This happens even when we’re convinced that the cycle of Nic’s addiction has ended.

Perhaps the hardest-hitting beat in Nic’s story is when he reunites with his college girlfriend so many years later. He coerces her into trying meth, which in turn makes her an addict. This gradually leads to Nic’s girlfriend overdosing, lying at death’s door - showing that the vortex of Nic’s addiction has the capability of even consuming the lives of those around him. And yet, even this isn’t enough to save Nic from his addiction. He continues using, hoping that it can provide him happiness and meaning in a world where he feels that he’s constantly disappointing others (namely his parents). Beautiful Boy’s depiction of addiction, its cyclical nature, and the mental tug of war that it causes is stunningly raw and accurate, and the lack of any pulled punches (specifically in regards to showing meth injection, overdoses, etc.) further makes the depiction of Nic’s addiction feel all the more real and impacting to the audience.

The true apex of Beautiful Boy’s storytelling, however, lies with David Sheff’s character. Throughout the film, we see David revisit memories with a younger Nic, all of which showcase David and Nic’s heartfelt relationship to one another. David states to Nic that he feels that he’s closer to Nic than most fathers and sons, and this truly rings through in the chemistry between David and Nic (played by Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet, respectively). The audience truly feels a love and respect that David and Nic have for each other, which only makes the strain on their relationship caused by Nic’s addiction feel all the more tragic.

David’s devotion to trying to help his son is perhaps a personal favorite aspect of this film. Throughout Beautiful Boy’s run time, from its first shot to its last, we see David Sheff tirelessly try to help his son be free of addiction, and we see this through various extents. From enforcing drug tests at home to driving around town to look for him to even flying across the country to pick him up after an overdose, David is a father that is clearly willing to do anything is save his son.

But at the same time, David is also an intriguingly complex character. He often gets into arguments with his ex-wife about trivial semantics, and he even occasionally does drugs himself. There’s a particularly noteworthy scene of David snorting cocaine, which is never repeats or is addressed again throughout the film. Why include this scene, in that case? Perhaps this was to show a kind of parallel between David and Nic - to show us that the negative effect that drugs may have on people isn’t necessarily black and white. While Nic’s use of meth has led to a spiraling addiction that impacts the people around him, David’s use of drugs, while still ultimately harmful, isn’t as frequent nor detrimental to those around him.

Nonetheless, we see David go to various lengths to try and save his son, all leading to one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in the film, when he realizes that saving his son very well not be possible. David’s relationship with his son and the emotional strain and concern born from Nic’s addiction leads to some amazingly executed and performed drama.

Steve Carell convinced me that I was observing a man riddled with conflicting emotions. He realistically shows a mix of heartfelt care and vivid frustration towards his son, all masked under a guise of desperation. Carell gives perhaps the best performance I’ve seen him in, though the greatest performance in the film comes from Timothee Chalamet. While Chalamet gave incredible performances in last year’s Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name, Chalamet solidifies his presence as one of the best young actors in the industry at the moment. Whenever Nic gets high from meth, we really feel him become senseless, lost, and hopeless (also thanks in no small part to some convincingly good makeup that really make the meth-using characters look like complete shit).

The film’s raw, convincing performances are complemented by the inclusion of incredible cinematography. Both of these thankfully distract from the sometimes distracting editing, where we occasionally watch or hear a flashback or dialogue exchange out of order. This has been done well in various other films, and while nine times out of ten, the out-of-order editing in a few scenes does work, the one time out of ten deals noticeable damage to the film’s cohesion when there didn’t need to be any in the first place.

Aside from occasional editing hiccups, Beautiful Boy creates a narrative experience that was intimate in a way that few other films are able to replicate. Having gone into the film without knowing much context about how drug addiction would be presented in the film, I was floored by how much this film cares about depicting the effects of addiction that we don’t see as often in most films. While we often see films tackle the physical or mental health angle of addiction stories, Beautiful Boy provides a refreshing and insightful look into the extent to which addiction affects family. More than anything, though, Beautiful Boy dares to show the lengths we’re willing to go to save those we care about, even when we know that it very well may be for nothing.

Final Grade: A

Thanks for reading! What did you think of Beautiful Boy? As always, feel free to join the conversation and let me know what you think!