Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy

Sammy was in his first year of university. He speaks on the phone with his parents and seems unhappy and sullen. The next day it is announced that Sammy has killed several students at the school. The film takes you on a heartbreaking journey as the parents try to deal with the tragedy.

Many stories and films have been written about such catastrophes. This takes the point of view of the parents of the perpetrator. It was painful from beginning to end .It did make me think that we can so easily forget that such people as Sammy have families.

Sammy’s parents, Kate and Bill were decent middle class people. They provided well for Sammy. They cared for him. They beat themselves up (figuratively) trying to figure out what they had done wrong. What a horrific experience.

The parents were shocked to hear the news when two burly detectives arrived at their door. At first they thought their son had been killed in the shooting. Journalists lined up at their front door. TV constantly had the story on the front line. They became prisoners in their own home afraid to step outside. They were barraged with phone calls from journalists. Kate yells out,” We have just lost our son. What do you want from us?” The parents are forced to move into Kate’s brother’s house to get away from the media. That also presented problems and the strained relationship forced them to move once again. Kate and Bill were grieving and didn’t know how to express their pain.

Kate and Bill kept asking,” Did we do something? Did we not do something?”

Bill has trouble when he goes back to work. He thinks everyone is talking about him.

Bill and Kate begin to argue as they struggle with coming to terms with the event.

Bill begins to drink. The pair split.

I felt as if it was an accurate portrait of how parents would feel and act in such a terrible situation.

Obviously it pulled at the heartstrings. It was painful from beginning to end. There was no entertainment factor to this film. The film takes a different perspective on a topic that we have all read about in the news. The film is well done. The main characters do a good job in difficult roles.