Buddy Boy

This disturbing and hilarious film achieves a delicate balance of the macabre and the absurd. At times it approaches satire, but its ultimate dramatic intensity belies a more serious study of faith and alienation. The performances of Aidan Gillen, as Francis, the lonely introvert voyeur, and Susan Tyrrell, his abusive mother, are exceptional. The production design and cinematography together create a strange and haunting world. One particularly interesting element is the use of sound to convey the protagonist's changing psychological perspective. Overall, this film has the unusual characteristic of staying with you long after you've seen it. I would highly recommend it.

For those who can make the necessary suspension of disbelief and contend with the depressingly dark ugliness of this drama, "Buddy Boy" will prove to be a captivating and disturbing look at the troubled life of a homely, introverted, socially inept, stammering young man who dutifully tends to a disabled, alcoholic, and abusive mother while window peeping at a beautiful neighbor. Somewhere between quirky and surreal, "Buddy Boy" is a compelling character study which waxes doggedly toward a somewhat anticlimactic conclusion. Not for everyone, this flick is most likely to be appreciated by those who are into quirky dramas for quirkinesses sake.

This film offers such a vivid depiction of mental illness that I found myself slightly disturbed after I had done watching it (I'm OK now, though!!) It will appeal to those who are fans of unsettling psychological horror that explores one person's mental state. Other films that I'm sure this one carries the influence of, include: "The Driller Killer", "Psycho", "Bad Boy Bubby"...

I'm no psychiatrist, but it struck me how it might be possible to get so wrapped up in one person, that you begin projecting your issues onto them once they've let you down; because up until then they'd been the only reliable, stable figure in your life. Throw in religious crises, which have the ability to make you even more uncertain, and you've got the recipe for one seriously messed-up individual. There is imagery contained within to turn your stomach and make your head spin. Take a chance on "Buddy Boy" if you're in the mood for a walk on the wild side; I just hope you come back unscathed... !

Buddy Boy is a psychological thriller on the same scale of Roman Polanski movies. While seeing Buddy Boy it immediately reminded me of a particular Polanski movie, The Tenant. Both stories deal with men looking abroad to the windows of others and noticing bizarre happenings. Thus causes the men to slowly go insane and therefore indulge themselves within their own insanity.

The story deals with a stuttering young man who is very reclusive and lives with his stepmother. He spends most of the time locked in his room. A perverse pass time of his is to look inside the apartment of a beautiful woman, played by Polanski’s wife, Emmanuelle Seigner. He falls in love with the woman’s image without knowing her. As the story develops they eventually meet and become friends. The young man continues to spy on the woman due to his lack of trust in her. As he peeps into the woman’s apartment, he begins to notice that she cooks human flesh and eats it raw. He goes over the woman’s apartment, only to discover that she is eating vegetables, I forgot to mention the woman is a vegetarian. The young man begins to think God hates him for making him see terrible things. Apparently the only time he sees the acts of cannibalism is when he is at his Peeping Tom area. This is the beginning of one man’s decent into madness.

I expected to see a particular type of stylish psychological film, instead I witnessed something more disturbing than what I usually see. Nevertheless it was an interesting movie. The style is ugly, its not elegant it’s simply ugly. So far I have not learned to like this particular style, I prefer something more elegant, meaning I dislike movies that take place in the rural areas of a metropolitan city. Despite the settings I thought the film was decent. It’s definitely a change of pace horror film instead of watching the typical teenage slasher Hollywood flicks. Which I don’t see but I’m sure they are terrible. Buddy Boy is a film that allows you to have your own conclusion, it doesn’t give you the ending, you create it yourself by what you saw from the flick.

Buddy Boy is an amazingly twisted and brilliantly written piece. Hanlon is obviously a man possessing exceptional skill and an enviable creative mind. The film requires that its audience possess the intelligence and acumen in order to appreciate its complicated, dark beauty. One can only hope that he continues to provide the movie-going community with such wonderfully challenging material.