Honey Boy 2019

In 2005, we meet Otis Lort, a troubled movie star grappling with a severe alcohol addiction. His reckless lifestyle leads him to crash his car and engage in a brutal confrontation with the police. As a consequence, he is compelled to attend a rehab facility where his counselor, Dr. Moreno, sternly informs him that leaving the facility prematurely could result in prison time for his violent actions. Dr. Moreno diagnoses Otis with PTSD, a claim he stubbornly denies, yet she pushes him to confront his traumatic past through exposure therapy.

The narrative shifts back to 1995, where a young Otis is a child actor supported on set by his father, James, a former rodeo clown. Although James is four years sober, his emotional state is unstable, revealing a volatile mix of manic behavior and aggression. They live in a cramped motel complex, where they share their space with a reserved young woman, Shy Girl, who lives across the hall. Despite James’s disdain, Otis is involved in the Big Brother program at his mother’s insistence. He longs to attend a baseball game with Tom, a fellow participant, and James reluctantly agrees to host a barbecue for Tom.

In the present, we see Otis in rehab interacting with his roommate, Percy, as he continues to resist the therapeutic process, feeling it offers no relief. Flashing back to his childhood memories, we witness the barbecue with Tom, which escalates into chaos when James violently tosses Tom into the pool, issuing threats when provoked. When Otis is presented with the opportunity to star in a film in Canada, he calls his mother for advice. Her uncertainty about James attending—given his registration as a sex offender—sparks a fierce argument between them, with Otis caught helplessly mediating the conversation.

Back in rehab, having ignored counsel once more, Alec, Otis’s counselor, suggests a cathartic release by screaming in the woods. The scene transitions to James at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, where he recounts the harrowing tales of his upbringing, including his troubled relationship with his stepmother and grappling with addiction, culminating in a moment of dark reflection on his past actions that resulted in his current status as a registered sex offender.

Isolated and searching for solace, Otis spends intimate moments with the Shy Girl, exchanging tender gestures. However, James exerts pressure on Otis, demanding he rehearse relentlessly while also berating him for minor distractions like the noise from their neighbors. In a moment of desperation, Otis confronts James, asserting his authority since Otis is the one earning a living. This confrontation leads to a violent backlash from James, who strikes Otis in anger but then retreats, dissipating into a haze of drugs at a nearby strip club.

The tension reaches a peak when Otis and the Shy Girl are discovered together by James one morning. An altercation ensues, leading to the Shy Girl defending herself and exiting the scene. James, in a drunken stupor, laments to Otis about the pain of being spoken to in such a manner by his own son. In a rare moment of reflection, Otis reminds James that without his earnings, he wouldn’t even be present.

Amidst this turmoil, James introduces Otis to a hidden stash of marijuana plants by the highway, and they share a moment of bonding over cannabis. As the story blurs between past and present, Otis revisits memories of the motel, envisioning a scenario where he can offer his father a film role about their tumultuous relationship. In a poignant farewell, James asks Otis to depict him favorably. The dreamlike imagery fades out with the two riding off together on James’s motorcycle, transforming into Otis as he drives away alone, encapsulating the struggles of their complex familial ties.