Eric LaRue Review: The Consequences of Death

Michael Shannon’s Eric LaRue is a slow and potent drama that deals with the repercussions of a school shooting.

Thus, Eric LaRue poses some uncomfortable questions regarding parenting, marriage, religion and mental health.

An excellent Judy Greer (of Jurassic World and Ant-Man) plays Janice LaRue, a seemingly normal middle-aged woman who lives with her husband, apparent good guy Ron (Alexander Skarsgård, of True Blood and Infinity Pool, cast against-type). But beneath the coat of regularity lies a not-so-secret truth: they are both in mourning due to the actions of their teenage son, Eric (Nation Sage Henrikson), who shot and killed three of his schoolmates in cold blood months earlier. He is now in prison, and his parents have been left at home trying to deal with the whole situation.

This involves Ron becoming a sort of born-again Christian, attending a cult-like church and establishing a friendship with fellow cultist Lisa Graff (Alison Pill, great as always). For her part, Janice attends a more regular church, where her pastor, well-intentioned Steve Calhan (Paul Sparks, of House of Cards and Boardwalk Empire) tries to convince her to meet with the mums of her son’s victims, gentle Jill (Kate Arrington, of Billions and Succession) and hot-headed Stephanie (Annie Parisse, of the recent Three Birthdays). But as the days go by and Janice starts having problems at work, she realises dealing with her feelings and the other mothers and her husband will be extremely difficult.

Despite sporting the name of the teenage shooter, Eric LaRue is all about his mother and the consequences his actions have had on her life. Judy Greer is simply excellent, playing Janice in a very subdued manner, as a regular woman who has to try and deal with an extraordinary situation, and who feels like she might be judged by anyone who knows what her son did. She conveys repressed feelings through subtle facial expressions and even body language, transmitting the fact that she’s in a very awkward position. She has many regrets but doesn’t really know how to feel about them.

The fact that the script doesn’t really tell us a lot about her life before the shooting is an interesting decision, almost as if Shannon and Neveu were asking the audience to only consider the consequences of the killings, without taking into account the whys or hows. All we know is that Eric was bullied by the kids he eventually murdered, and that, according to Janice, she did her best to help him stop crying when he came home from school. She seems like a normal, well-meaning mother, but… was she? At times, it’s difficult to tell.

This is why we ultimately get the sense that she’s simply a woman who tried her best with a problematic son. Trying her best, though, apparently includes depending a little too much on religion (instead of therapy or mental health advice in general), which is perfectly represented by Ron. While Janice tries to deal with her complex feelings by going back to work and talking to Steve, Ron decides to become part of a Christian cult, talking to his wife about Jesus all the time, and telling her the sort of advice that might sound profound, but that ultimately ends up helping no-one.

Skarsgård plays Ron perfectly as a very simple man who seems content with repeating the same words he hears at church almost every day but that don’t seem to be helping him –or Janice– very much at all. The fact that he breaks down in tears in front of Jill and then proceeds to offer her a neck massage –something that he tends to do frequently with women, I might add– tells us everything about his mental state. When he should be trying to comfort and help his wife, he prefers to stay at home and watch TV, conveniently ignoring his reality, trusting that Jesus will solve it all.

Now, I wouldn’t consider Eric LaRue to be a critique of religion as a whole, but rather of its extreme expressions; the kinds of cults and churches that make people depend on them, take the Bible extremely literally, and transmit incredibly sexist messages. What the film is trying to say is that the kind of extremism that might convince someone that killing is the only solution to their problems is the same extremism that is supposed to comfort the families of the victims of school shootings. It’s all a big circle of violence and guilt and praying, seemingly endless and frustrating.

Even though Eric LaRue manages to deal with all these subjects in a very mature manner, it won’t be a movie for everyone. For some, it may feel a little too close to home. And for others, it could be perceived as a rather slow and sometimes visually plain movie. In fact, much like many other indie productions, it seems enamoured with the use of bokeh and shots with little focal length, which doesn’t necessarily contribute to the visual development of the story. But apart from that, Eric LaRue works as a potent and excellently acted drama that manages to focus on people who aren’t normally considered victims in these kinds of situations. It’s a solid debut for Shannon in the director’s chair and the type of movie that makes one excited to see what he’ll be able to do next.

Eric LaRue will be released in US theatres on April 4, 2025.