“In Alma Har’el’s HONEY BOY, Shia LaBeouf brilliantly plays a fictionalized version of his real-life father, a former professional rodeo clown and amateur parent of a successful child actor. The relationship between a father who never quite found success and the son he both resents and reveres occupies the heart of the story. The film is incredibly funny and beautiful and heartbreaking. It resonates especially for anyone with a complicated relationship with their father. Alma mentioned her affection for Polish film posters when we first discussed this assignment so I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to pay homage to my favorite school of design. The bull is a somewhat obvious bit of rodeo imagery but the metaphor made too much sense to ignore. The bull is strong and protective and resolute, but also hot-tempered and easily misguided. Adding conspicuous clown imagery on top speaks to both Shia’s character “James” and Lucas Hedges’ older “Otis”, the adult version of the son telling his story through rehab sessions. HONEY BOY stuck to my ribs long after I saw it and I hope the film finds a huge audience, it’s a special one.”
