Boy A
2008 · Directed by John Crowley
Original language: English
- crime
- drama
The story
Freed after a lengthy term in a juvenile detention center, convicted child killer Jack Burridge finds work as a deliveryman and begins dating co-worker Michelle. While out on the road one day, Jack notices a distressed child, and, after reuniting the girl with her family, becomes a local celebrity. But when a local newspaper unearths his past, Jack must cope with the anger of citizens who fear for the safety of their children.
What it’s like
Overcast, washed-out British winter light lies over drab estates, supermarket car parks and lorry-route roads, with a cool grey-green palette and little warmth in the frame. The camera stays close and naturalistic, lingering on faces in small rooms and on the quiet stretches between conversations, and the score is sparse, with long stretches of ambient hush. The childhood past returns in fragmented flashbacks that are disturbing rather than lurid, so the dread comes from what is implied and remembered. The mood is grave and melancholy, a slow, watchful drama that moves at the pace of a man testing whether he can be trusted with ordinary life. Its arc follows a young man struggling to build a normal existence while public suspicion closes in, and it asks hard questions about rehabilitation and identity. Intensity is serious: child abuse, a killing and the hostility of a frightened community are central, and the most harrowing material is handled with restraint rather than gore. It suits a reflective night in, for viewers who want something sombre, humane and morally complicated, and it is not a gentle watch.
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