Despite being billed as a strict drama, Michael Shannon’s directorial debut, Eric LaRue, conquers difficult subject matter while staying dipped in dark comedy. Although I went in expecting a tragic movie in the vein of Sundance’s underrated Mass, Eric LaRue is a different beast entirely. After a school shooting that leaves three teens dead, what comes next? The parents of all involved must find a confusing way forward to deal with their emotional trauma. Judy Greer and Alexander Skarsgård play the parents of the shooter on complete opposite sides of the coping spectrum. Eric LaRue delicately handles the complexities of parenthood commingled with tragedy, and emerges as one of Tribeca’s finest offerings, courtesy of Judy Greer’s tour de force performance.
Under pressure from her bumbling priest, Steve (Paul Sparks), Janice (Greer) begins warming to the idea of meeting the other mothers affected by this senseless tragedy. Her sanity seems to be barely hanging by a thread, and no one understands how she feels, least of all her husband, Ron (Skarsgård). Janice gets to the point where Steve pushes her so much to leave the house and get better that she feels she needs to go through the motions. Is she actually ready to move forward? Her first day working back at Dellride’s Rightsmart certainly does not go smoothly—thanks to her status as the mother of a murderer, Janice had become something of a social pariah. Right off the bat, a customer messes with her resulting in a loud outburst when Janice refuses to entertain their firearms-related inquisition.
As the film builds to the confrontation between the mothers, Janice struggles with her conflicted feelings about Eric. At the end of the day, he is still her son despite the awful things he has done. She reminisces about vacations they had together as tears slide down her face. She finally goes into his barren torn-apart room, sitting with his clothes. How can her son be the same one who did these horrible things? Puffy-eyed and deeply rattled, Judy Greer’s performance as Janice feels revelatory and awards-worthy. Early on in the film, Janice confides to Steve that even though the trial is long over, she has still not been back to visit her son.
Brett Neveu’s script treats both the meeting between the mothers and a prison visit to Eric himself (Nation Sage Henrickson) as major pillars of the film. Ron’s story in comparison is more tertiary, proving strange comic relief, yet even he gets a pretty great arc. Though he filmed his scenes in just seven days, Alexander Skarsgård somehow perfectly disappears into man-child father Ron. Whereas Janice wants to understand what she is feeling, Ron wants to be forgiven by the love of Jesus. The couple talks to each other, but neither genuinely listens. Skarsgård, in a choppy short haircut and odd demeanor, acts as the film’s unexpected comedy. His obsession with religion might have more to do with all-smiles Lisa (Alison Pill). She has recruited Ron into the Redeemer church, overseen by an intense pastor (Tracy Letts) who urges Ron to “manage” his wife. Those offended by digs at religion, including a Redeemer “Hallelujah” sing-along, may want to steer clear.
I was surprised to learn during the Q&A at Tribeca that Eric LaRue originally started as a play in 2002, and was written in the late 90s. How could a movie’s script feel so timely and relevant with nearly three decades in between? Was Eric provoked into doing what he did? Are the parents to blame? Is there a way forward through forgiveness? The film provides no easy answers, only to emphasize that the line between compassion and obliviousness may be thinner than we think.
Eric LaRue screened at 2023’s Tribeca Film Festival.
