The Butcher Boy (1997)

Directed by

Neil Jordan

Genre

drama film, black comedy film

Country

Ireland

Runtime

1h 50m

Rated

R

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 128 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A 12-year-old boy named Francie Brady lives in 1960s Ireland with his dysfunctional family. To cope with his troubled home life, he escapes into a violent fantasy world and his grip on reality slowly slips.

tragicomicunsettlingdreamlikebleakdarkly comicvisceralslow-burnmelancholic

What happens

The Butcher Boy is a 1997 Irish black comedy film directed by Neil Jordan. The film was based on Patrick McCabe's 1992 novel of the same name and McCabe co-wrote the screenplay with Jordan. Set in the early 1960s, The Butcher Boy is about Francie Brady (Eamonn Owens), a 12-year-old boy who retreats into a violent fantasy world to escape the reality of his dysfunctional family; as his circumstances worsen, his sanity deteriorates and he begins acting out, with increasing brutality. The film won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival in 1998 and a Special Mention for Owens "astonishing lead". It also won the European Film Award for Best Cinematographer for Adrian Biddle. The Butcher Boy was the final film produced by The Geffen Film Company until 2024's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and was released before the original company was folded into Warner Bros. in 1998. In addition, it was also Sinéad O'Connor's final feature film before her death in 2023. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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