Movie

Ben Is Back

2018 · 103 min

A nerve-shredding, intimate day-long ordeal that wrings dread and heartbreak from a mother's desperate vigilance.

Directed by: Peter Hedges
Genres: Drama
Starring: Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Courtney B. Vance

Tagline: One family. One day.
Overview: 19-year-old Ben Burns unexpectedly returns home to his family's suburban home on Christmas Eve morning. Ben's mother, Holly, is relieved and welcoming but wary of her son staying clean. Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed, and a mother's undying love for her son is tested as she does everything in her power to keep him safe.

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Directed by: Peter Hedges
Genres: Drama
Starring: Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Courtney B. Vance

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: tensestrength 3 of 3
melancholicstrength 2 of 3
earneststrength 2 of 3
darkstrength 2 of 3
Pacing: slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: addiction
family
parenthood
guilt
redemption
Places: suburbs
small town
home
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: single location
Content intensity: Gore none
Language strong
Violence mild
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	3
Horror	2
Humour	2
Realism	8
Romance	1
Tension	8
Darkness	7
Complexity	5
Emotional weight	9

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent or buy

Sky Store

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres: drama
Directed by: Peter Hedges
Written by: Peter Hedges
Starring: Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Courtney B. Vance, Kathryn Newton, Rachel Bay Jones, David Zaldivar, Alexandra Park, Michael Esper
Music: Dickon Hinchliffe
Cinematography: Stuart Dryburgh
Runtime: 103 min
Country: United States of America
Languages: English

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Ben Is Back

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