Boy A

What it's about:

Fresh out of a 14-year prison sentence, 24-year-old Jack (Andrew Garfield) arrives in Manchester looking for a new start. He has a new name, a new job, and a carefully sealed criminal record, but an entire boyhood spent behind bars has left him permanently looking over his shoulder. Guided by his fatherly caseworker, Terry (Peter Mullan), Jack attempts to forge meaningful ties with a local girl and a chatty co-worker, but what happiness he finds is challenged when his true identity seeps (and then floods) through the cracks of his new façade.


What the critics thought of it:

"Crowley gets a remarkable performance from Andrew Garfield: his Jack is a person who carries guilt with him even when he is trying to override it."
- Stanley Kauffmann, New Republic


"In tandem, the director and screenwriter build up a palpable suspense. Boy A will rivet you while raising issues about forgiveness and just who deserves it."
- Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle


"Ambitious both as to structure and theme, and riveting in mood."
- Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com


"Inspires respect for its first-rate performances, artful construction and meticulous understatement."
- Joe Leydon, Variety

"Mullen and Garfield fit well together -- both have faces you like on first sight, both have charm, both have warmth."
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times