In a world divided by hate, perhaps love is the answer. Leave it to filmmaker Phil Dunn to turn that somewhat simplistic statement into a cinematic work of art in his short film The Stupid Boy. Indeed, humanity seems to have forgotten how to just be kind to one another. Fueled by extreme ideologies and politics, everyone’s at each other’s throats, resulting in mass shootings, terrorist acts, and school bullying. With a few expert touches, the filmmaker portrays how a little bit of warmth and empathy can potentially penetrate this antagonistic veneer.
Michael (Joshua Griffin) is the son of a white mom and a Black father. Due to his unconventional view of the world – it’s not specified whether he’s autistic, but Michael literally views the world through a tiny hole in a box he built as an art project – the sixteen-year-old gets frequently bullied at school. Yet he does not seem aware of it, his expression is that of pure perpetual wonder, searching for beauty in this world through that tiny peephole. News of yet another terrorist act in London by a white supremacy group unfolds in the background.
One of the members of this cult, Stephen (Shaun Mason), looks particularly traumatized, beaten by his father as a child, ready to unleash his resentment on the world. He straps on a bomb vest and ventures outside. The two protagonists meet in a busy food court – which doesn’t stay busy for very long after Stephen announces his presence. “I have a bomb!” Stephen screams. “I know,” Michael says calmly. What happens next is so pure and simple and yet so deep and all-encompassing, it’s bound to stir the most stone-cold hearts.
Griffin is a major reason for why the film works as well as it does. Nailing the mix of naiveté and unadulterated kindness, he is absolutely riveting and, more importantly, believable. Dunn expertly avoids sentimentality, making each second of the 15-minute film count. The definition of “glory”, or the search for it – the white supremacists’ reasoning for the atrocious acts they commit – is dissected. Michael’s bullying, though off-screen, is juxtaposed against Stephen’s upbringing, how trauma can spur hate or lead to empathy. Does Michael’s outward obliviousness hide tremendous depth? Can one hug save the world?
While these questions will make you consider humanity’s future, there’s no questioning Dunn’s future in filmmaking. Based on the deeply resonant The Stupid Boy, it’s going to be bright and long. . . if the world is still around, that is.
