Movie Review: Boy A

Boy A is an interesting film; I saw a preview for it before another film. It is a British film, and in the simplest terms a story about a boy coming of age, like so many other stories. Actually, boy coming of age stories seem to be the film you make when you don't know what else to write. This one had an interesting twist.

The twist in Boy A is the boy coming of age is a murder; as a young boy he killed a young girl with a friend. The friend had all the symptoms of a psychopath or sociopath depending on your preference. They form a friendship based on abuse and violence; they kill the girl and are found guilty. The movie begins with Boy A getting out of the juvenile facility they were sentenced to; his friend had killed himself.

Boy A gets to pick a name, received a job, and a place to live in a city far form where he grew up, but everywhere he looks the public is being reminded the "Evil Comes of Age" (the title of a newspaper article on him). The public has no idea where he is, his new name, or what he looks like. He has a relatively smooth transition to conventional life.

While on a job he sees a car has driven off the road, and he and his co-worker saves a young girl trapped in a car. Shortly, after the hero story breaks someone leaks who Boy A is. His friends reject him, and he is unable to to contact his parole officer who is the only person who is completely supportive. The film ends with the voicemails he has left as he stands on the side of a bridge contemplating jumping.

We don't see him jump, but it is implied he does. I liked the social implications of the pressures this young man feels; he did the time he was sentenced to, but was it enough? I would be skeptical if this kid moved in next door, but he isn't do anything to imply that he still had problems. There is a long discussion about suicide because Boy A doubts his friend had killed himself, and that there is no reason he should have. This conversation foreshadowed the closing scene when Boy A contemplates suicide following his transition.

It was ok, I'll give it a 3/5.