Shia LaBeouf Stars as Fictionalized Version of His Father in ‘Honey Boy’ Trailer

Amazon Studios released the first trailer for the Shia LaBeouf-penned Honey Boy on Thursday.

Based on LaBeouf’s own experiences of growing up in Hollywood, Honey Boy tells the story of Otis Lort from his childhood to early adulthood as he navigates the different stages of his frenetic acting career. LaBeouf stars as a fictionalized version of his father, an ex-rodeo clown and felon, with whom Otis attempts to reconcile throughout the film.

Noah Jupe and Lucas Hedges share the role of Otis throughout different stages of his life. FKA twigs, Maika Monroe, Natasha Lyonne, Martin Starr, Byron Bowers, Laura San Giacomo and Clifton Collins Jr. round out the cast, while Alma Har’el directed.

LaBeouf opened up about writing the semiautobiographical script as part of a rehabilitation program during the film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. 

“It is strange to fetishize your pain and make a product out of it and feel guilty about that,” he said of the writing process during a Q&A after the screening. “It felt very selfish. This whole thing felt very selfish. I never went into this thinking, ‘Oh, I am going to fucking help people.’ That wasn’t my goal. I was falling apart.” 

“It was a very difficult movie to make because there is nowhere to go. You are just in it,” he added of the film, which served as Har’el’s narrative debut. “There was a lot of stuff going on for her first film to be this close to the flame.” 

Honey Boy will be released Nov. 8. Watch the full trailer above.

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