Daily Times

Who has ownership of grief or blame in the midst of a tragedy? Michael Shannon’s directorial debut “Eric LaRue” beautifully unpacks how the sins of the son impact both the father and mother in his adaptation of Brett Neveu’s 2002 play of the same name. Judy Greer and Alexander Skarsgård portray two parents whose teenage son – unseen until the final moments of the film – murdered three classmates in a school shooting, and the duo are left in the wake of the violence to rebuild in their small community. Greer’s Janice aimlessly wonders how culpable she is in her serial killer son’s actions, while her husband finds solace in joining a new church and becoming very close friends with his fellow congregation member and human resources executive, played by a perfectly unhinged Alison Pill. Their entire suburban community onscreen is built upon the mundanity of conformity, complete with Janice’s job at a Big Lots-adjacent big box retailer and her husband’s penchant for drinking beers alone at Sizzlin’ Sallies. Janice is pressured at every turn, even by her boss, to participate in a sit-down therapy session with the three mothers of the deceased boys that Janice’s son Eric murdered.