Beautiful Boy is not a good film. It is not a comfortable film, nor is it particularly pleasant. It is often extremely heavy-handed and in many instances, it may be dour enough to qualify as being the most miserable film of the year. However, Beautiful Boy is still an extraordinary film simply on its premise, at its core being a raw, brutal and unabashedly human drama about an issue that is rarely explored with this earnest sincerity and undeniable dedication, even if it results in an unsettling and often extremely upsetting film that does not leave the audience entirely enthused. Addiction of any sort is a very serious issue, and Beautiful Boy, to its credit, does commit itself entirely to exploring this issue fully, removing all traces of literary cliche that is normally seen in these kinds of films, and presents an explicit and heartwrenching portrayal of drug abuse and the effects it has not only on the user but on those around them as well. Beautiful Boy is a film I didn’t enjoy as much as I deeply respect it, and even though it is mostly a tense, distressing experience, its a vital film, both for its subject matter and how the film approaches it. Its importance should not be understated, and it deserves to be seen, not necessarily as escapism, but rather as a cautionary tale about the dangers of addiction and the difficulties one encounters when they try and overcome it.

Based on a true story, Beautiful Boy follows David Sheff (Steve Carell), who is a freelance writer who has written for a number of prestigious publications such as Rolling Stone and the New York Times. His newest concern is one that is not journalistic, but rather much more personal – his son, Nicolas (Timothée Chalamet), has been experimenting with drugs for years, and has recently begun to show signs of inescapable addiction. David, his ex-wife Vicki (Amy Ryan), his current wife Karen (Maura Tierney) and a host of other characters try their best to help the young man overcome his addiction and move on with his life, because entering into adulthood is difficult enough without the burden of drug addiction on the young man’s shoulders. However, despite his constant efforts, Nic finds giving up is far more difficult than it would appear, and relapse proves to be a vital part of recovery, as the characters soon learn. Through all of this, David has to come to terms with the fact that he doesn’t recognize his son – his “beautiful boy” that he raised has become someone very different from what his father intended him to be, and through the tenaciousness of a loving father and his willingness to help his son (even if it eventually means abandoning him and forcing him to fend for himself) shows the true extent a parent will go to in order to help their child, even if they don’t want to be helped.

Beautiful Boy is a film built on the performances of its two leads, the first of which really surprised me. Steve Carell has certainly made a concerted effort to appear in a wider range of films, trying his hand at a variety of genres which has allowed him to make some fascinating strides that have distanced him from his more lowbrow comedic work that used to define his career. Carell is excellent in Beautiful Boy – he plays the role of David Sheff with such subtletly and precision, disappearing into the role and finding a certain nuance that has been mostly absent from most of his work, but has clearly been within him for a while, with traces being shown as earlier as his performance in Little Miss Sunshine. For the most part, his performance in Beautiful Boy is a considerable improvement on a lot of his prior work, with Carell showing a certain introspection that one wouldn’t necessarily have associated with him until a few years ago when he clearly began putting effort into his performance. His performance as Sheff is remarkably simple, but still retains a clear soulfulness, and with the exception of scenes that called for Carell to scream (which did nothing other than evoking memories of his infamous scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin), he showed himself as being remarkably adept at this kind of dramatic work – Carell seems to be doing admirably well as establishing himself as a solid actor, as well as a capable leading man, and while Beautiful Boy itself may not be a film that proves Carell to be a brilliant actor, it is a step forward in his career, and we can only hope this kind of work is a regular occurrence, because he’s clearly got the talents for it.

Carell’s sparring partner for the majority of the film is played by Timothée Chalamet, who is the driving force behind the film, playing the titular character and the one whose life the film revolves around. The role of Nic Sheff in Beautiful Boy is a difficult film for a young actor to play, because addiction is a disease that is not often manifested particularly well in film – there isn’t a shortage of glamorized portrayals of drug use or stereotypical views of serial abusers (and it doesn’t help that the film mostly centres on Nic’s addiction to crystal meth) that show them in one perspective. It isn’t enough for the film to show Nic abusing drugs, but rather exploring the influence the drugs have, both on him and his family. The life of an addict is one filled with a panoply of obstacles, especially for those who try and quit, and there isn’t one specific way to recovery. I can say that in spite of all these challenges in playing the role, Chalamet is excellent. His breakthrough performance in Call Me By Your Name stands as one of the finest in recent memory, and it has already established him as one of cinema’s brightest young talents – Beautiful Boy is definitely not a film that can ever come close to reaching the brilliance of Luca Guadagnino’s extraordinary romance, but Chalamet’s performance here does manage to show that he is certainly not defined by his role as Elio, and he can extend himself, even as a relatively young performer in the industry. It is a very different kind of performance (perhaps even the polar opposite of Elio), and it certainly isn’t nearly as good, but it is one that allows Chalamet to explore a different character, one that is not as introspective and philosophically-minded as Elio, but just as complex. Chalamet is rapidly rising in status, and while a lot of this film is quite predictable, especially regarding his character’s struggle, he is certainly convincing, and he does embody the character with a mighty conviction, with some moments of genuine brilliance scattered throughout the film as a result of his performance, and if he continues to give such marvellous performances, its not difficult to see him becoming one of his generation’s most fascinating actors.

Beautiful Boy is an important film because it looks in-depth at a very important issue that is not necessarily under-represented, but certainly not adequately explored. Drug addiction is a very serious problem, and all too often films relegate the concept of addiction to the three-part structure of “euphoria to downfall to recovery”, and it doesn’t always show how recovery is a process that relies in many instances on failure – the road to being cured of the disease of addiction is one that is filled with obstacles, and while everyone recovers differently, to outline the process as being linear is short-sighted. This seems to be the central approach Beautiful Boy takes to the material, presenting a raw and heartbreaking portrayal of not only drug addiction, but attempts at recovery, focusing on the difficulties of overcoming addiction, and how easily one can fall back into the habit, often flirting with danger more closely than before. Moreover, not only does Beautiful Boy not glamourize drug abuse, but it also refuses to demonize it – it depicts drug addicts as dealing with a life-threatening struggle, rather than portraying them as individuals that should be reviled. Beautiful Boy is a film that clearly comes from a place of meaningful sincerity – it is sensitive enough to look at drug addiction on the human level, but also intelligent enough to show it in an unsympathetic light. Beautiful Boy is, unfortunately, a very dour film, but it would appear like that would be the only way to convey this message across while at the same time avoiding stereotypical views or either the glamourizing or demonizing of the addict’s struggle, and while it may make for a suitably miserable experience, it does have some hope in it, the optimism that drug addiction is difficult, and may not be as easy to overcome as some would think, but that it is possible through support and guidance, but most importantly, finding it within oneself to make the life-altering change, whatever the cost.

Furthermore, Beautiful Boy is not limited to only being about drug addiction, because despite Nic Sheff’s story being fascinating and heartbreaking in itself, this is not only about his road to recovery, but rather a father-son story. David Sheff is a nostalgic man – he fondly remembers his son’s younger days, when they were close, sharing a strong bond and enjoying similar activities. Flashbacks to Nic’s younger days are littered throughout the film, portraying a very different time for both characters, and juxtaposing these moments of endearing childhood innocence with the more contemporary moments of reckless drug use, where Nic becomes unrecognizable to his father, who struggles with the memory of his son, his “beautiful boy”, who has transformed into someone who seems capable of only making poor decisions. Beautiful Boy is a statement on entering adulthood, and the challenges we all face – Nic Sheff just encountered more difficulty in growing up and starting his life because of his drug abuse, and his father can only offer him a finite amount of kindness, guidance and tolerance before he himself grows weary of his son’s inability not merely to stop abusing drugs, but to grow up and realize that life is a series of choices, and even a small choice can derail one’s life for a long time. There are moments where David genuinely seems to try and empathize with his son, even going so far as to purchase drugs and try them himself (which was puzzling, to say the least, without much context or commentary on why this was significant) – Beautiful Boy is not a film only about recovering from substance abuse, but a film about how such struggles are not only experienced by the addict, but by those around them, who often feel the brunt of the addiction themselves, albeit indirectly – it can impact relationships and cause lasting damage to the very structures that one relies on for support in the road to recovery.

Beautiful Boy is certainly an anomaly of a film – it is uncomfortable, yet extremely heartfelt, and as unsettling as this film can be, it does manage to make some profound statements through its commitment to telling this story. Nic Sheff is just an ordinary young man overcoming addiction, and his father was just trying to help him. There is nothing in his story that would make this any more remarkable than another film about addiction – but through the dedication to telling this story, not to entertain but to shed light on a decades-long epidemic, makes Beautiful Boy an admirable film. It is often weighed down heavily by its message, and the moments of optimism, while existent, are few and far between, with most of the film being disconcerting and heartbreaking. However, Beautiful Boy is a film that will resonate for a lot of people, especially those who have experienced similar struggles, whether they were an addict or knew someone who was. For everyone else, Beautiful Boy portrays a serious problem in a way that is stark and unsettling, but also profoundly meaningful, showing the complexities of addiction and recovery. It is a film that means more as a statement rather than as a movie, and sometimes that is enough, because what Beautiful Boy lacks in narrative it makes up for in intention, resulting in a meaningful and profoundly moving film that takes its subject seriously, sometimes a bit too seriously.