The film Lonely Boy, held its World Premiere at Cinequest Film Festival 23 and had many positive reviews.
Directed by Dale Fabrigar and Produced by Raheem Williams & Troy Daniel Smith, this movie was being talked about all week and through many circles at Cinequest.
Written by and starring actor Alev Aydin, the movie is a dark comedy that focuses around a schizophrenic trying to find love in a world that doesn’t understand his sickness.
Franky, played by Aydin, is living life with no direction, working a dead-end job and living in a dumpy apartment.
It’s easy to tell something’s not right from the beginning of the film.
Constant fights with his family, pressure to take his medication, and numerous missed appointments with his psychologist all weigh on Franky’s mind and make it difficult to cope with his schizophrenia.
Despite his illness and having no desire to take his mediation, Franky lands a date with a woman he met online and attempts to make a name for himself in the dating world.
A chance meeting at the supermarket with Alex, a young quirky girl who seems a little weird but appeals to Franky.
Alex, played by actress Natalie Distler (Rescue Me), forces Franky to begin to come out of his shell and search for the reasons behind his illness, which is spiraling out of control.
Veteran actress Lynn Whitfield makes an appearance as Franky’s psychologist, Dr. Christine Nolan.
Richard Riehle also appears as Franky’s old cranky neighbor Mr. Fitz.
Franky searches to find the truth about his past and what led to his current state, in the hopes to find inner peace.
What he finds out could ruin him or free him.
A lot of things worked for this movie. It’s a dark comedy, and in exploring such a serious illness, Lonely Boy is able to make us laugh enough to be comfortable to talk about it.
Some parts of the movie developed slowly, and it seemed like it took a long time for Franky to begin to start his journey toward health.
The fact that the big reveal happened toward the very end of the movie illustrates the speed at which his mind works, and how his whole world seems to come to a screeching halt when he finds out the truth.
Aydin’s performance as Franky is great. According to Aydin, some of his ideas were based off ideas from conversations he had with his own mother.
He was able to take an issue that most people don’t understand and communicate it to an audience in a way that anyone could relate to.
Lonely Boy leaves its audience with a lot to think about.
Much like other movies that target mental illness, it brings the subject of the stigma into the forefront of our minds.
Lonely Boy is able to do that in an emotional and unconventional way.
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