This film takes a vital look at how boys become men in 2019. It revisits the moments from toddler to teenager—familiar to many boys and their parents—that shape the life of a young man. From the moment he’s told that “boys don’t cry” at an early age, he’s molded to fit an outdated construct of masculinity and to look and act in a way that betrays what he really feels. As the film progresses, we see in tragic detail how a boy with such brilliant potential is emotionally compromised—slowly and deliberately formed to become nothing more than an alpha predator.

Casting for this film was extremely difficult. We needed male actors of various ages who could portray the linear story of a single boy. Each age required a boy who could authentically convey the experiences unique to that particular age. Five boys were used in total to show our main character’s maturation. To make the story believable, they all had to bear a striking physical resemblance to each other, and they had to be willing to put themselves into the often uncomfortable scenarios that define the toxic masculinity story.