Without a biological family anymore, young adult Zak, with Down Syndrome, is housed against his own wishes in the only facility in the state open to him, the Britthayven Retirement Home in Richmond, Virginia, where his primary caregiver is a young, caring woman named Eleanor.
On his third attempt with help from some of the elderly but nonetheless wily residents, Zak, who continually watches an old VHS tape of his favorite professional wrestler Salt Water Redneck, is able to escape from the home in his pursuit of traveling to Ayden, North Carolina to attend Salt Water’s wrestling school he’s seen advertised on that tape, his goal to become a pro wrestler. This dream is stronger with the many taunts over the course of his life that he would never achieve anything for being “retarded”.
Along the way, he encounters a young man named Tyler, who too is running away. Since the death of his older brother Mark, Tyler, who works for a boat shop in one of the river estuaries of the area, has lost his way, and has resorted to poaching blue crab traps to earn extra pocket money. In the process, he purposefully burns bridges with many working in the fishing or boating business in the area as he tries to get away to start life anew in Jupiter, Florida.
Initially not wanting to have anything to do with Zak in dealing with his own flight, Tyler has a change of heart in finding that Zak is a fellow “outlaw”, Tyler who vows to help Zak get to Ayden on his own way to Jupiter. The bond that forms between the two may give the other a different perspective on life, and may be broken by circumstances, including if their pursuers find them, Zak’s being Eleanor, and Tyler’s being two other fishers, Duncan and Ratboy, who will resort to violence to get their vigilante justice on Tyler if need be.
The Peanut Butter Falcon is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, in their feature film directorial debuts, and starring Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Bruce Dern, Jon Bernthal and Thomas Haden Church. Its plot follows a young man with Down syndrome (Gottsagen) who escapes from an assisted living facility and befriends a wayward fisherman on the run (LaBeouf); as the two men form a rapid bond, a social worker (Johnson) attempts to track them.
The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 9, 2019, and was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on August 9, 2019, by Roadside Attractions. The film went on to become a sleeper hit, earning a gross of over $20 million, making it the highest grossing independent film of the year. Gottsagen became the first individual with Down syndrome to present an Academy Award when he and LaBeouf announced the Best Live Action Short Film on February 9, 2020.
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
Directed by: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson, Zack Gottsagen, John Hawkes, Bruce Dern, Jon Bernthal, Thomas Haden Church, Mick Foley, Jake Roberts, Michael Berthold, Deja Dee, Karen B. Greer
Screenplay by: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz
Production Design by: Gabrael Wilson
Cinematography by: Nigel Bluck
Film Editing by: Kevin Tent, Nathanial Fuller
Costume Design by: Melissa Walker
Music by: Zachary Dawes, Noah Pikelny, Jonathan Sadoff, Gabe Witcher
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Roadside Attractions
Release Date: August 9, 2019
Visits: 27
