Beautiful Boy (2018)

Beautiful Boy: Directed by Felix van Groeningen. With Steve Carell, Maura Tierney, Jack Dylan Grazer, Oakley Bull. Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.

“Based on a true story, this film reminds us that addiction is a disease which does not discriminate: it can hit anybody at any time. Indeed, Nic (Timothée Chalamet) does not fit the stereotype of a junkie: raised in a loving upper-middle-class family, he is a good student and shares a close relationship with his father, David (Steve Carell). However, drugs have been part of his life since the age of 12 (alcohol and marijuana at first). The turning point is when he becomes dependent on methamphetamine, at only 18 years old. From that moment on, Nic and his relatives get trapped in a downward spiral. Despite all the support they give him, they are unable to prevent relapses and fear losing him. This movie accurately describes the harmful effects of drugs on family life. It also explores the limits of parental love. Well directed and earnestly performed, « Beautiful boy » is a deeply human drama.”