Written and directed by Jesse Noah Klein, after the death of their abusive and tyrannic father, three children – now adults – and their aging mother return to their long-abandoned summer cottage. They will have to partake in a strange competition that tore their family apart 30 years prior – a nightmarish return to the past for the family’s children. Starring: Caroline Dhavernas, Aaron Abrams, Marc Bendavid, Lise Roy and Mario Dallaire.
If you were looking for, though who knows why you would be, fantastic examples of truly toxic family dynamics, Best Boy should be pretty far up that list. It feels like Jesse Noah Klein was drawing inspiration from Dogtooth, but instead of being disturbing and uncomfortable, it’s darkly twisted in a comedic fashion. That’s really where the charm of this film lies, in how unhinged, unhealthy and unpredictable it is.
Klein brings those weird vibes into the mix right off the bat, there’s no mistaking that this is going to be a strange and unusual adventure. If ever there was a recipe to produce mal-adjusted adults, this newly departed father had it down to a tee. Klein’s writing is odd, funny and so casually dark. With his directorial style he keeps things humble, especially with that great isolated, natural setting to work with, then with the writing slowly but surely deepens the warped edge to this story. It’s so well done and that he manages to achieve that in such an organic manner is actually quite impressive.
That foundation in itself is fantastic, but then you add in the performances, and it only gets so much better. The sheer brokenness that Aaron Abrams brings to the table is crazy, the intensity to all of the siblings is something special but with Abrams, there’s also a violent, competitive touch which makes him feel genuinely dangerous. Caroline Dhavernas matches that in her own way, there’s a lot of similarities to their characters, but Dhavernas has more self-awareness, even if some denial, and vulnerability, she helps to gives the film a sympathetic vein.
While Marc Bendavid ticks all those boxes of being the youngest sibling, getting the brunt of it all but none of the glory, desperate to prove himself, and attached to his mother, played by Lise Roy who is similarly great. The complexity that she brings to explore her choices as a mother in the face of abuse, and how that changes now that her husband has passed is fascinating to watch. Particularly when she is constantly challenged by her children to justify her complicity in their cruel childhoods.
Best Boy is dark, twisted, broken, funny, and creative in a delightfully warped manner. The performances are incredible, the intensity and brokenness that they all bring to the table is relentless, it’s a pleasure to watch them at work. Particularly Aaron Abrams who pushes the film’s unhinged nature even further. It’s got great pacing, coming in at eighty-two minutes, keeping things tight and fast. It’s shot well to not over-exaggerate things, as the writing and performances already are perfectly on top of that huge energy. It’s unexpected, original, highly entertaining, and fucked up in the best of ways.
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