Beautiful Boy – Plot Summary

Kate (Maria Bello) and Bill (Michael Sheen) are the about-to-be-separated parents of college freshman Sammy (Kyle Gallner). However Bill’s plan to move out, and Kate’s one last attempt at a family holiday to make things better are blown by the most earth-shattering news: Not only their son has committed suicide, he has done so after mass-shooting other students at his college.

The movie practically starts after the shooting, and we watch the terribly devastating and difficult  journey of Bill and Kate as they try to digest and understand the events as well as trying to cope. It is extremely hard when two people- who barely looked at each other- now only have each other to lean on.

Beautiful Boy: A Beautiful Film

I tried my best to write a plot summary worthy of the film, but it is difficult. Because you see, this is not a an eventful film. Sure, the kid of a normal, white-collar family shooting his friends is huge, but we don’t see it happening. The movie shows us the effects as Bill and Kate try to survive with the loss of their son, as well as the guilt and anger that they feel towards his crime. And while the movie mostly shows the parents try to go through the motions, it is not boring. Difficult, emotional and thought-provoking? Yes. But boring? No.

The acting is great. I’ve always been a fan of Maria Bello, and I’ve a whole new level of admiration for Michael Sheen.. It is hard to believe Sheen is the weird vampire from Twilight, or the douche rocker dude from Laws of Attraction or the mean, spoilt lord from Timeline.

The writing and direction are fine, although sometimes I wondered if they could have added a trial at therapy. I mean- surely the fact that your son just committed such a crime before killing himself is not something anyone can deal without any professional help?

With the exception of that, this was a refreshing movie. I saw Dark Matter (starring Meryl Streep & Aidan Quinn) where the story showed how the mass-shooter came to that mindset) or  The Life Before Her Eyes (starring Uma Thurman & Evan Rachel Wood) where we saw how one survivor dealt with the guilt afterwards. But I hadn’t seen a movie where we saw through the eyes of the parents of the shooter.

As I said, as difficult as it is to watch and even try to think what you would have done if you were in their shoes, it is a should-see film, although it is not for the faint of heart.  There is no violence. There is no gore. But there are extreme emotions, outbursts and worse, apathy.

Currently rated 7.1 on IMDB.

Written by Shawn Ku and Michael Armbruster. Directed by Shawn Ku.

Cast Notes:

–          One of the supporting characters is Kate’s brother with whom Kate and Bill go to stay after their home is invaded by the media. He is played by Alan Tudyk, who was one of the first Vs posing as humans in the TV show V (2009 version). He played Elizabeth Mitchell’s partner.

–          Another supporting character is the writer Cooper (Austin Nichols), whose novel is spell-checked by Kate.

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