Honey Boy ★★★½

SHIA LaBeouf is a polarising actor.

He started as a child performer in mainstream roles but has progressed to more independent and arthouse fare.

In between he has had well documented struggles in his personal life that perhaps have also overshadowed his talent in some people’s’ minds.

But in LaBeouf’s impressive writing and directorial debut, Honey Boy, there is no doubt that we get a fascinating and brutally honest portrayal of his past that helps us understand how his current life has been shaped.

The names are different but the central character is based on LaBeouf as a boy and then a young man, and specifically the difficult relationship with his abusive and complex father.

The film moves between two periods in his life – 1995 when he is starting a career as a child actor under his father’s tutelage and 2005 when his career implodes and he is forced into a stint in rehab.

The script is raw and emotional, unflinchingly depicting the mental and physical damage caused by his father’s wild mood swings and LaBeouf’s later attempts to deal with the lasting impacts.

LaBeouf plays what is essentially his own father, in a role that must have required intense focus, let alone the added pressure of direction.

The film itself looks and sounds a little rough at times, but the photography projects an authentic, home video style.

It’s a small film that packs a big emotional punch.