Ever since Shia LaBeouf revealed he was working on a film based on his experiences growing up in Hollywood, we’ve been on the edge of our seats waiting to hear more. Now, the first trailer for the hotly anticipated project, Honey Boy, is finally out. And we’re even more excited.
The film, which stars Shia as his own father and A Quiet Place actor Noah Jupe (and later Oscar-nominee Lucas Hedges) as the magnetic, conflicted young superstar he once was, is named Honey Boy after the actor’s childhood nickname. Written by Shia, Honey Boy was directed by filmmaker Alma Har’el and has already garnered a bunch of film festival buzz. It premiered at Sundance in January of this year and took home the Special Jury Prize. Oh, and FKA Twigs also makes an appearance — in her feature film debut! — as Otis’s neighbour and a kindred spirit to the troubled child.
Due to be released by Amazon Studios in the US this November, with a UK release not long after, Honey Boy is a semi-fictionalised retelling of Shia’s wild ascent to fame and his subsequent struggles with mental health and stints in rehab. Shia looks unrecognisable in the first trailer, playing his own father, an ex-rodeo clown, ex-con and controlling stage parent. With receding hairline and penny glasses, it’s the furthest from his Transformers-era image we’ve ever seen him.
Watch the full trailer here: