Watched: Hellion (2014).
I feel like there is some sort of through-line with this film, Short Term 12 and Smashed - all three chart the stories of individuals who are doing their best to make things work, fucking up in the ways that people inevitably fuck up, but managing to draw something good out of the whole mess. Here, the interplay that bears out that story is between Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad alumni and Smashed co-star) and Josh Wiggins as his rebellious, sometimes-unhinged son.
Aaron Paul’s stock-in-trade is tortured performances, so it’s no surprise that he performs well here, but Wiggins is a revelation; he creates a character who often lacks even basic consideration for others into a role filled with empathy, inner conflict and the understanding that the feelings of children are just as pure; they just lack the necessary tools to express them constructively. There’s a terrifying escalation toward the end of the movie, but even as things take a turn for the horrific, his performance keeps you rooted in his perspective, rather than throwing you out.