Cinema Slut #2019 - Ben is Back

I did really take in three deep films over the weekend, The Hate U Give explored police brutality and race, The Mule looked into being successful at something late in life that was also highly illegal and Ben is Back is a deep dive into addiction.

Drugs specifically.

Julia Roberts like Nicole Kidman is only choosing good films to appear in from here on. Not only films, Homecoming (although she will not appear in the second outing, apparently) is excellent too on the streaming service Amazon Prime.

Taking change of the big screen and the small screen is no small feat, but Julia Roberts nailing it! Not only Ms Roberts but the brilliant Lucas Hedges. Not only did he break my heart in Boy Erased, but now he does it all over again in Ben is Back.



I'm not going to lie, I was close to tears twice in this mother/son holiday film. Yes if the holidays weren't bad enough imagine your drug addict son returning home for the holidays and literally all hell breaking loose.

It's a tough watch at times and Hedges really is an outstanding actor and should be in demand in 2019.

Boy Erased was a tough role but this one was just damn tough. Kathryn Newton was also brilliant as Julia Roberts other child in the blended family making the Burns.

Ben is Back is no Sunday stroll but it is a wonderful film, well made and a story that needs to be told. In Australia it's all pill testing and drugs are bad, but we need stories like these, real faces, names, not just opinions and people claiming people will one day just like that stop taking drugs.

Because guess what, they won't.

Hate to say it to the NSW Government but you need to act and NOW.

Ben is Back is a 4 star film, great job all involved.