Blending profanity with childhood innocence, Good Boys is a raunchy yet sweet story about three preteen boys embarking on the perils of puberty. Produced by Seth Rogen, the film follows best friends Max (Jacob Tremblay from Room), Lucas (Keith L Williams), and Thor (Brady noon) as they try to find out how to kiss after being invited to a kissing party at their popular classmate Soren’s (Izaac Wang) house.
Hilarity and hijinks ensue in which the boys find themselves in unimaginable situations. Along the way the trio finds more than kissing techniques, discovering the harsh reality of growing up and separating from your friends. Lucas’ mom, (Retta) aptly likens the boys to hermit crabs, who shed their shells once they have outgrown them and search for new ones. Similarly, the boys have outgrown each other and therefore find other groups to belong to. Yet despite their distance, the boys remain as close as when we first saw them. The presence of profanity and sex references does little to sway from the charming performances of the film’s leads, who are a mix of precocious and innocent, with their lack of knowledge in sex endearing us toward them.
Good Boys also delivers a stern message about consent, a reference to today’s #MeToo movement, emphasising the need to always ask someone’s permission before kissing them. And while the age mates of the film’s leads are unable to watch the movie, this message is delivered well enough that children are easily able to understand it. A funny, heart-warming film, Good Boys is a winner for its sure feel of sauciness and sweetness, exploring the highs and lows of growing up. The naivete of the children compared to the adult world they are navigating makes for a feel-good film with plenty of laughs to go around.
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