5 April 2026 – Cinema Club saw ‘The Good Boy’ (strangely renamed ‘Heel’ by the Americans) at a member’s house.  The synopsis, according to cinema websites was as follows…

“The film follows Tommy, a volatile 19-year-old who revels in drugs, parties and violence. After getting separated from his friends on a drunken bender, he is abducted by a shadowy figure. He wakes to find himself imprisoned in the basement of a remote Yorkshire house, inhabited by a very strange family. But what unfolds is not what he – or the audience – could possibly expect… Part nightmare, part black comedy and part family drama.”

The remainder of the film is based on the above synopsis, where the idea is that Tommy can be changed into a ‘Good Boy’ by virtue of being held prisoner, shown his own violence repeatedly on television, being lectured on what the right behaviours are, tasers, pepper spray and beatings when none of that works.  There is also a child in the house who was clearly in Tommy’s position at an earlier time, but is now a reformed ‘good boy’.  And there is a secret of an earlier child, named Charlie, who is never mentioned in Tommy’s presence, and is possibly dead and buried in the grounds of this remote mansion house.  The end of the film sees Tommy escape, but then bring back a friend to the house (the only person who reported him missing), so that she can be rehabilitated too.

The whole film was very dark and presented issues like Stockholm Syndrome, and questioned whether society was to blame or upbringing for bad behaviour of the ‘youth of today’, of which Tommy was an extreme example.  And then presented one answer of imprisonment, shackling, indoctrination and beatings, which never really seemed to work, although Tommy’s response at the end of the film might suggest otherwise.

The cast members were: Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, Anson Boon, Kit Rakusen; and the director was Jan Komasa, who is mostly known for his other Polish films.

The performances were very good by all the cast members, and the scenes within the house were presented like acts within a play.  The presentation was very serious and somewhat harrowing throughout, with very little in the way of light relief, and seemed to be more about examining societal attitudes (or lack thereof) towards delinquent behaviour, and what the alternatives might be.  As such, the film was not enjoyed so much as appreciated for the challenges raised for consideration, and with that in mind, we all thought the film was good in that respect.  It was never my first choice, personally, but I come away glad that I saw it.

Mark Kermode described this film as darkly satirical, and compared it to ‘Clockwork Orange’ and ‘Misery’, with Kathy Bates.  I gave it a score of 6.5, whilst ‘IMDB’ gave it 6.8, and the ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ score was 8.7 (87%).

Fraser