The Stupid Boy

A couple deal with their son's problems, while a troubled man plans a devastating act.

Michael (Griffin) is a 16-year-old school boy, who lives in London sees the world in his own way. His loving parents Polly (Piercy) and Adio (Elroy) care for him deeply and worry about him when he faces bullying issues at school. Meanwhile, suicide bombings are taking place across the city and they are believed to be the doing of a white supremacist group and an unstable man named Stephen (Mason) intends to commit the next atrocity.

During its fifteen-minute running time, this short drama explores a great deal of subjects that include terrorism, extremism, racism, religion, family and being different. The characters are interesting and the screenplay effectively reveals their lives and struggles. The narrative is divided into two storylines that alternate between them, one of which revolves around Micheal and the other concentrates on Stephen as he prepares for a suicide bombing. The story is quite emotional and tense and the heart-stopping final will most likely leave the viewer stunned.

Arguably, the two most interesting characters are Michael and Stephen. Griffin delivers a strong performance as a kind-hearted young boy who behaves differently than others and who also has a passion for photography and has built himself a camera out of cardboard. Mason's character could be the antagonist, a broken man with a tragic past who is filled with anger and hatred towards foreigners and his emotional state leads him to decide to carry out a bombing. Mason plays his role with much intensity. Piercy and Elroy also do a great job as Michael's loving parents.

The film gains significantly from Mario Genovese's work on the beautiful cinematography and Thomas Bell makes a very positive contribution with the music, which is dramatic, tense and emotional. The filmmakers also utilise upside down image techniques rather interestingly.

This short is quite memorable and it looks into the factors that might cause people to do bad things and also appears to point out that even the unlikeliest of individuals can do the most brave and astonishing actions by reaching out with love.