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.
Honey Boy is a 2019 American drama film directed by Alma Har’el (in her narrative feature directorial debut) with a screenplay by Shia LaBeouf, based on his childhood and his relationship with his father. The film stars LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe and FKA Twigs. LaBeouf originally wrote the script as a form of therapy while in rehab. The project was announced in March 2018, and the cast was filled out over the next two months. Filming took place in Los Angeles over the course of about three weeks.
Honey Boy had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2019 and was released on November 8, 2019, by Amazon Studios. The film has received positive reviews from critics, who praised Har’el’s direction as well as the performances of LaBeouf and Jupe.
Honey Boy (2019)
Directed by: Alma Har’el
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe, Byron Bowers, Laura San Giacomo, Natasha Lyonne, Maika Monroe, Haylee Sanchez, Dorian Brown Pham, Greta Jung, Clifton Collins Jr.
Screenplay by: Shia LaBeouf
Production Design by: Jc Molina
Cinematography by: Natasha Braier
Film Editing by: Dominic LaPerriere, Monica Salazar
Costume Design by: Natalie O’Brien
Set Decoration by: Tatiana van Sauter
Music by: Alex Somers
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, some sexual material and drug use.
Distributed by: Amazon Studios
Release Date: November 8, 2019
Visits: 44
