The Boy Next Door
The Boy Next Door
NR | 14 November 2008 (USA)
The Boy Next Door Trailers

Mark, a 25-year-old male prostitute who suffers from anxiety attacks accidentally runs into the 10-year-old son of one of his clients. When the boy tells him he is looking for his father Mark, taken by surprise, wants nothing to do with him. But while they wait for the client to return Mark realizes that maybe this unexpected guest was exactly what he needed. Over the course of the night this strange new friendship grows and gives both Mark and Justin the courage to overcome their fears and face their own personal demons.

Reviews
Kirpianuscus

one of films useful for the feeling after the last credits. a simple story. touching, almost a sentimental sketch, a sort of life lesson , giving a message who, if you do not ignore the last scene, could be too sentimental. but it remains a real useful film about solitude and about fears and about the perspective of a child about the universe of his father. so, a great film out of the ordinary meaning of "great". because the state of the viewer after the end of this short film is the only significant thing .

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Paul

Provoking short, I think brilliantly written, directed, filmed and acted. Im understanding the challenges, yet I'm not reading in any reviews or plot summaries, the story behind the pills and anxiety. The prostitute was molested and now has crippling anxiety and the son is dealing with monsters under his bed, i.e. father molested or is molesting him. Hustler and boy identify the common thread, and the cycle ends for both. Monsters gone, pills no longer needed, healing begins. If you notice, the son watches his father and hears him say to the prostitute, I don't pay you to play with my son, I pay you for me...then aggressively forces himself on the hustler...son identifies at that exact moment and doesn't say a word and behaves not as if it was normal, you can see he knows its a violation, but yet, it's been done to him. So, he empathizes with the hustler, hustler affirms he just dealt with the monster, for them both. They now heal. Possible I'm over complicating the story..?

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preppy-3

Short about male escort Mark (Michael Ellison) who suffers from anxiety attacks. He goes to a clients hotel room...but runs out of his pills. His client has to leave for a while and Michael runs into his clients 10 year old son Justin (Truman Chambers) who believes there's a monster under his bed. Mark tries to get rid of the kid but then realizes that this might be what he needs.Kind of vague but ultimately touching little short. The ending is a little too pat but it is a (sort of) uplifting one. The acting is great by Ellison and especially Chambers. The whole film takes place in a hotel room and the corridor outside which actually helps the film. An interesting little gay short.

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Havan_IronOak

It's never explained why this young man has turned to prostitution but it's heavily suggested that a drug habit is involved. What pain the drugs are masking is left to the imagination. As with many short films, this one poses many unanswered questions about motivations and back-story but this film is successful in getting you to care somewhat for the characters.It's an apt snapshot but not much more. It suggests that the director has potential but it will require a more fully developed story-line to tell for sure. The young kid and the prostitute were bot well cast but the other man seemed too young to be the father of a kid that age. I felt a short bit of disappointment at the end in the denouement. I expected the film to come to a better conclusion than the walking away scene that we get.

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