Movie Review: ERIC LARUE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: April 4th, 2025 / 02:34 AM

ERIC LARUE movie poster | ©2025 Magnolia Pictures

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Judy Greer, Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Sparks, Alison Pill, Tracy Letts, Annie Parisse, Kate Arrington, Marylouise Burke, Nation Sage Henrikson
Writer: Brett Neveu, based on his stage play
Director: Michael Shannon
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Release Date: April 4, 2025

When a school shooting occurs, as it does all too often, the most obvious victims are the dead and wounded. However, other victims include the families of those shot, often the family of the shooter, and pretty much the whole community.

ERIC LARUE, scripted by Brett Neveu based on his stage play, encompasses all of this. In his telling, at least, everyone is so frozen in how they have been impacted by this tragedy that they are incapable of empathy that would allow them to at least communicate.

We don’t see much of the title character (Nation Sage Henrikson), now in jail after killing three of his classmates in what appears to be a small town in North Carolina (where ERIC LARUE was shot). The film’s focus is actually Eric’s mother Janice (Judy Greer), finally returning to her retail store clerk job after a long absence.

Janice isn’t too excited about being back at work, but she more or less doesn’t want to be anywhere else, either. It’s been a year since the shooting, but she still doesn’t know how to feel.

Janice’s husband/Eric’s father Ron (Alexander Skarsgård) is no help. He and Janice go to different churches. Ron’s house of worship is led by Pastor Verne (Tracy Letts), whose congregants are a bit cultish and where speaking in tongues is not considered strange. Ron tries to carry Pastor Verne’s beatific message with him. Janice finds this entirely hollow.

Janice, meanwhile, isn’t sure what to make of her Presbyterian Pastor Steve Calhan’s (Paul Sparks) urging for a sit-down discussion between Janice and the mothers of the three murdered boys.

Michael Shannon, a formidable actor in his own right, makes his feature directorial debut here. He creates an effective subdued look and mood for the material and proves to have unerring instincts in guiding the cast.

Greer puts innumerable details of anguish, bewilderment, rage, guilt and grief into her portrayal of Janice. It’s remarkable work.

Skarsgård takes what could be a contemptible character and makes him someone who elicits our sympathy. Ron isn’t very bright, very articulate or very forceful. He desperately wants to believe he’s doing the right thing, and deep down knows how confused and ineffectual he is.

There is a scene near the end that is painful for its people and for the audience alike. We can’t tell if we’re meant to side with Janice, or simply observe that, like everyone around her, she is unable to reach past her own pain enough to accomplish her goals.

Bob Dylan’s “Positively 4^th Street,” performed by Scott Lucas & the Married Men, closes out ERIC LARUE. Although Dylan wrote the song in 1965, the lyrics about lack of friendship and faith suit the movie as though crafted for it.

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