Movie Review: “Beautiful Boy,” One True Story of Addiction

Courtesy of Creative Commons

By Ashley Barrow 11/10/2018

The drama shows the raw moments of addiction between a teenage boy and the rest of his family. “Beautiful Boy” is based on a true story about Nic Sheff and his father David Sheff, we learn about the ongoing cycle of addiction.

Timothee Chalamet plays Nic and Steve Carell plays his introverted father. Throughout the film, Nic’s father tries to understand his son’s addiction which started with Nic smoking weed, which led to him trying coke, then heroin and eventually he became addicted to meth.

It was interesting to see the parallel between the two characters and their relationship throughout the film.

The father never gave up on his son. There were moments throughout the film when they hugged each other and whispered to each other the word, “everything.”

The word became an indication of their love for one another because when Nic was young his father told him that he “loves him more than everything” before putting the boy on the plane to visit his mother.

Throughout the film, they listened to other music,  like Guns and Roses songs during a car ride. Nic’s father also sang John Lennon songs to him before bed.

The audience sees that the artistic side of Nic’s father is passed down to Nic as he uses a journal to write down and draw out what he is thinking and feeling.  

As a member of the audience, it was tough not to ask the question of how Nic ends up in this cycle of addition when he had so much support from his father and the rest of his family.

Often there is no clear answer to why someone becomes addicted and relapses repeatedly, and the film taught the audience this hard truth. 

At the end of the film, the audience learned the meaning of the title of the film and how it related to the father and son’s relationship.

“Beautiful Boy” is a relatable story showing someone who repeatedly fights to overcome addiction and how those around him try to help.