A little over four years ago, at 6:21 p.m. Central European time, a 15-year-old German girl got a concerning text over Yubo—the “Tinder for Teens.”  Although the girl would dismissively reply “Cool,” she was nonetheless privy to messages like: “Ima go shoot up a (sic) elementary school”—texts that turned out to be real plans for the horrific Uvalde school shooting.

The ensuing controversy over whether the young German did enough to prevent the Texas attack stunned creative collaborators Oscar Boyson and Ricky Camilleri enough to start a new project entirely. The duo wondered how calls for accountability could possibly find their way to such an unwitting witness, especially in the wake of Uvalde’s infamous police “response.” This discourse, combined with other neurotic post-lockdown incidents, would become the genesis of OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR. Put simply, the duo asked: What kind of character would ever react to a sadistic DM by traveling across America to confront it? Furthermore, what would happen, dramatically, if that character wasn’t so altruistic?

OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR follows a billionaire’s row latchkey kid with a penchant for amateur “cryfluencing”—weeping on command for just about any cause and just about no one. Completely neglected by a mother who husband-shops at DNC fundraisers, the young man is pretty visibly disturbed. With strange mannerisms like a stilted laugh and stim-like mimicking of others, “Balty” (Jaeden Martell) appears incapable of masking even before he pops a Xanax. In fact, not even the direction of his fratty “Life Coach” (hilariously played by Noah Centineo) can make friendships seem like anything but a foregone conclusion. Desperate for connection, the not-quite-18-year-old sets his sights on a beautiful activist classmate—shifting his content to sobbing pleas for her gun-control politics. When these posts are anonymously met with sadistic attack plans, the pillhead loner decides the sexiest thing he can do is confront this troll. Balty thus descends a rabbit hole of deepfake catfishing, following seedy advertisements that taunt “CAN YOU TELL WHO’S A FAKE?” and “SEE WHO YOU CAN BECOME!”

            When a City Boy arrives in Texas instead of a Gone Wild 2D Girl, the misanthropic Solomon nearly loses it. Asa Butterfield’s chameleon-like transformation into the spitting image of Patrick Crusius is undoubtedly one of the bravest performances of the year. In a bold rejection of his softboy typecasting, Butterfield proves himself fearless by bringing a real tenderness to the zeitgeist’s conception of Incel Shooter. When the equally lonely Solomon can’t help but be tempted by Balty’s offer of “friendship,”the two embark on a twisted dark-comedy rumspringa. There’s a cute tagline for the film being passed around by early audiences. That being: OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR has two central characters: 1) a crybaby pretending to be a sociopath, and 2) a sociopath pretending to be a crybaby. This truly contemporary character study makes for a work equal parts summer flick and ethnography: a mature directorial debut anchored by strong ensemble performances and a tight screenplay. Beyond its consistent pacing and visual language, one of the most significant factors in creating its seasoned director feel is the heart in which it approaches depraved subject matter. What normally could come off as crass or edgy, instead packs the kind of empathy needed for something vulnerably real. This film is a surefire hit with dark comedy enjoyers looking to laugh at today’s insanity, rather than hide from it.

            Recently, I had the privilege of attending a screening with a director’s talkback from Boyson that really sold me on him, Camilleri, and all other key collaborators as artists to keep tabs on. In particular, it was the opportunity to hear about the turbulent production process that really turned the project into an indie darling I was excited to root for. At a moment in time where even blockbusters seem to have razor thin margins, it feels important to root for the underdogs; Especially when they’re inexplicably rejected from both Sundance and SXSW. With a microbudget of “under two million” and a grand total of $0 spent on paid media, the independently produced work had no other choice but to get creative. Instead of buying ad time, OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR was promoted by bringing Balty Malone’s instagram account to life: there, an in-character Jaedan Martell would assail social media with pairings of “cryfluencing” and doctored selfies with Jack Schlosberg. It was this viral campaign that got me to buy a ticket, and for some reason I’m completely free of the typical aftertaste that normally makes these moves feel gimmicky. To overcome financial limitations by creating thoughtful(-ly ridiculous) paratexts is the kind of creative problem solving that has won me over on this project. Getting to hear the director’s thoughts on the matter only enhanced that feeling.

While describing how these characters evolved across drafts, Boyson repeatedly emphasized the act of “pulling back.” There’s a real empathy to how these characters are written. Though certainly disturbed, both lead roles anchor the film precisely because they’re made to be kids. Instead of gleeful evil, Balthazar’s differences are shown with subtle decisions like an 18th birthday that passes unnoticed, with not even a second wasted reflecting on what that milestone should mean for him. According to Boyson and Camilleri, getting to these more nuanced emotional cores was a lengthy process, one in which the writing duo repeatedly had to catch themselves from making their young protagonist too cunning. By tampering down the resemblances to Patrick Bateman or Tom Ripley, OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR affirms that its pursuit of realism is more than just a catchy platitude. Instead, this film is an actual Nature vs. Nurture inciting spin on the coming-of-age tradition. This portrait is not of a demonic boy, but a stunted one.

            There’s a certain stillness to Oscar Boyson. For however (capital c) Chill he may seem, the director does not lounge in his chair. He meets his young interviewer with a genial smile whose sincerity (but not energy) reaches his eyes. He has good posture, but will lean towards an audience question- nodding along as he fields annoying comments with grace. He stares steadily at them, through squinted eyes that somehow manage to call themselves to the fore. Boyson matches the stillness of his body with a resting poker face; The monotone tamber of his voice like a wizened Fratcent- as if its detached cool has been eroded down by the workplace. When asked about his heroes, Boyson points to figures like Lou Reed: the kinds of rockstars that “experimented wildly and let their audiences catch up.” He can certainly brood like Lou (though seems far more mellow—more like Reed’s singing than his interview antics).

 And yet, as he describes the film’s production, you can’t help but get the sense that he’s a consummate professional. Though making any indie movie is far from smooth sailing, his measured responses betray a serious competence. Boyson will mention real organizational feats like a sub 2 hour rough cut as if it were nothing, making clear just how determined he was to get this debut right. If his testimony is to be believed, nothing seems to have been left up to intuition or chance: a quality that makes sense when one considers he cut his teeth in the industry as a producer. With a resume containing some of the most decorated indie films of the last decade, Boyson always seems to be a part of the winning formula. Working as a producer on soon to be seminal works like Baumbach’s Frances Ha (2012), and the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time (2017) and Uncut Gems (2019), the “fledgling” director has seen what it takes. Of particular note is this latter collaboration with the Safdies. Dating all the way back to the brothers’ breakout feature Heaven Knows What (2014), Boyson’s close, multi-movie relationship with Josh and Benny Safdie has left its fingerprints all over OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR. For fans of the former duo who feel like Marty Supreme represents a high budget squandering of Good Time’s human element, Boyson may have your next fix. This work is clearly in conversation with their kind of gritty, nerve-wracking portraits of New York, all the while never feeling pastiche. 

Boyson’s conversation with the “Safdie tradition” is perhaps clearest in his debut’s cinematography. The camera trucks and pans slowly, as if drifting along in a stupor, almost like the altered sight of our spacey protagonist. Some of OUR HERO’s most visually striking scenes feature roving, handheld camerawork that swim between careful blocking like an invisible spectator. Even in fundamental establishing or shot-reverse-shots, the camera spies on its subjects, giving us obstructed views of characters from behind all manner of bushes, computer monitors, or shoulders. To make matters more uncomfortable, Boyson makes use of the extreme closeups and long lenses the Safdies are known for. Although these choices create a similarly high-strung atmosphere, Boyson finds his own voice by, once again, “pulling back.” Unlike the Safdies, the oppressive tension of OUR HERO, Balthazar does not come from frenetic editing, but the awkward pause. These long takes, especially the ultra closeups of faces and their nervous ticks, are like nails on a chalkboard, and they keep your eyes glued to the screen in anticipation.

This caliber of screenplay and visual language would be an impressive result for a major motion picture, let alone an indie film on a “microbudget.” During the director’s talkback, Boyson mulled over the production decisions that made this film possible, highlighting a real reservoir of knowledge for every facet of the operation. There’s a funny asymmetry about leading a large artistic project like this. While on the press junket for his own (totally unrelated to OUR HERO) directorial debut, veteran actor James McAvoy shared an interesting anecdote about the position. Just by nature of how rare an opportunity to direct is, “a director is the least experienced person at their job on that set than anybody else…And quite often, if you’re a young first-time director, you’re the least experienced person full stop.” When put like that, the making of one’s first feature film must be a nightmare. It must be so tempting to go full dictator, to seize control before one is drawn and quartered by their own responsibilities. And yet, like so many other qualities of the film, Boyson’s approach feels wise beyond his years. During the talkback, he reiterated again and again the necessity of “really loving actors”—not just as a platitude, but as a central concern when allocating limited resources. In spite of how much he had to do with so little, Boyson invested in extra weeks of rehearsal with his two stars before filming. This decision to provide a real space for his actors’ thoughtful experimentation and study of their roles would end up paying dividends: come time for expensive filming days, the actors knew exactly what their director wanted from them (an interpretation they had created collaboratively). 

It seems that the more one learns about the making of this movie, the more smart, long-term decisions reveal themselves. Early drafts of OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR date back to 2022 and that time’s post-lockdown-ness. If names like Asa Butterfield, Noah Centineo, and Jaeden Martel seem familiar it’s because these were all breakout stars from that year’s crop of Netflix Originals. As far back as then, Boyson and Camilleri were thinking ahead to casting, and (correctly) anticipated they would not have the funds to do an Open Call. So they decided to write personalized parts, not for superstars but working actors. Boyson talked a lot about the power of writing someone a part, and not just as a moneysaver or failsafe. Working actors are talented performers who, even after giving a beloved performance, still have to brunt the brutal audition process. To write them something truly great is no small gesture. It feels almost moneyball, to hunt for great performances from actors audiences haven’t seen in awhile. WWhen they needed a grimy scam-artist father, they went straight for Chris Bauer (Frank Sobotka on The Wire); when they needed a boyish central antagonist, they saw something in Asa Butterfield that convinced them he could transform into a school shooter. Boyson would even go as far as to say the challenge rather quickly becomes tempering enthusiasm and being upfront about how difficult signing on to an indie movie like this will be; however, if that is all that is said and done, the reward for straying from the A-list is an incredibly motivated actor for your project.Considering the back and forth scene stealing from such a strong ensemble cast—that technique seems to work at a pretty high success rate. 

Of course, there were some hiccups- The original actress for Balty’s “love interest” was “poached by Disney,” but the success of OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR seems anything but a fluke. It is this ability to efficiently prioritize what matters that has really made me believe in Boyson as a future household name. His training as a producer hasn’t made him an out-of-touch board member or consultant, but a pragmatist who always works in service of the best art. It’s no wonder he made a truly great indie movie in 2026.

Mannix Beall-O’Brien returns to the Nassau Weekly with an impassioned indie movie recommendation — don’t be repelled by Netflix-original faces and Safdie brother sheen, he says… as those are Our Hero, Balthazar’s most deftly wielded tools.