The Loneliest Boy In the World - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Loneliest Boy in the World



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
As a huge fan of zombie movies I try and look at some of the more oddball entries into the horror sub genre to expand my horizons. Films like Warm Bodies and Shaun of the dead have their place, but after watching The Loneliest Boy in the World I have to sort of rethink my position on blindly loving all oddball zombie movies. I didn’t mind the sitcom nature of the film, or the fact that they included one hit wonder 80s band “Go West” in the soundtrack (the opening and closing songs to be precise). I’m more offended that the movie couldn’t keep a coherent plot, make the tone fit with said plot, or make it any more interesting than being excited that the main character watches “Alf” on TV.

There’s a ton left out of the narrative of The Loneliest Boy in the World, but from what you gather right off the bat our hero is a young man named Oliver (Max Harwood) who has recently been let out of an institution. It seems that he sort of had a break with reality when his over protective mother (who kept him locked up in their house his entire life) was accidentally killed by Oliver, but is now out and about on his own recognizance. Margot (Ashley Benson) and Julius (Evan Ross), Oliver’s two social workers, task him to gain a friend by the end of the week, or they are going to recommend that he be re institutionalized.

Oliver now has motivation to at least be a slightly well functioning member of society, but making a friend proves to be difficult due to his stunted social skills. Everyone in his small town knows of his past, and making a friend out of the pool of living bodies seems insurmountable. In a fit of sadness Oliver decides to dig up a bevy of dead bodies from where his mother is buried only to find that they magically come to life and act as his surrogate nuclear family.

Yeahhhhhhh, that’s about as much as I got. Sadly the story is littered with unclear subtext, and even murkier back stories for characters. The entire film is littered with literary allegories, such as his entire neighborhood (and subsequent house) looks like it’s been ripped out of a 1950s sitcom, and that the neighborhood that he lives in is named “Hubris”. I guess they were going for a sort of surreal morality lesson here, but the constantly lacking narrative structure makes it incredibly hard to get anything meaningful out of the 90 minute film.

There is a little bit going on with themes about love and grieving over loss, and the subsequent recovering from being a man child, but it is VERY hidden among the ludicrousness of the film itself. The film tries to play itself off as a walking live action cartoon, but once again, there doesn’t seem to be any focus in the script, leaving the audience to scratch their head at WHY things are playing out like they are. At points I got a chuckle here and there, but at the end of the day I left feeling very frustrated and disappointed with the viewing.




Rating:

Not Rated By the MPAA





Video:

The Blu-ray release sports a handsome 2.39:1 framed AVC encode that is good, but never dips into being GREAT, if you know what I mean. The entire film is heavily stylized, with an aesthetic that looks like it was ripped from a 1950s sitcom and put into a British (even though it’s not British) 1960s filming style. The movie is saturated with overly bright pinks and pastel greens and blues (pinks, TONS of pinks), and fine details tend to look rather nice. Sometimes backgrounds can look a bit hazy and out of focus, but the image is very stable and looks quite nice most of the time. There’s the typical Well Go USA banding that goes on, but nothing too egregious. Just a nice looking encode.








Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is sufficient, but not an overly aggressive experience. Dialog is really clean and clear, locked up front where you would expect, and surrounds get a moderate amount of activity. The score really fleshes the film out a good bit, as there is not a whole ton of activity until the gigantic house blaze at the end of the film. Bass response is solid, but never overly banging, either. Simple, effective, not overly ambitious. All of those are the basic tenants of The Loneliest Boy in the World’s 5.1 mix.












Extras:

• Behind the Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer
• Well Go USA Previews

Final Score: ​

The Loneliest Boy in the World is pretty much a textbook definition of indie “style over substance”. I mean, I can see some glimpses of something deeper in the narrative, but the direction is never fully fleshed out, and the writing is poor. The Blu-ray itself is reasonable, with good video and audio, but the typical lackluster extras found on Well Go USA releases (previews and a single making of). Personally, unless you’re a huge cult zombie fan, I’d just give this one a pass and move on to something else.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Ashley Benson, Ben Miller, Susan Wokoma, Evan Ross, Max Harwood
Directed by: Martin Owen
Written by: Piers Ashworth, Brad Wyman, Emilio Estevez
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 90 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: December 20th, 2022

Recommendation: Skip It