“Ben is Back” is a family’s personal trip into the nightmare of addition, and how it destroys that family. The screenplay is written by Peter Hedges, and he is also the movie’s director. Plus, on top of that, he directs his own son, Lucas (who plays the aforementioned Ben). This is heavy lift, and the topic is dark and moody. But the acting and direction is very realistic, so it makes for an unsettling experience. The movie takes place right at Christmas time, but it is not filled with joyous Christmas spirit.
Holly Burns (Julia Roberts) has two children with her first husband, who is now out of the picture. Her children are Ben (Lucas Hedges) and Ivy (Kathryn Newton). Nice Christmas pairing, Holly and Ivy – right? However, with her new husband African-American Neal (Courtney B. Vance), he is bringing his two much younger children into the family. But the family unit has been fractured. Ben has a severe addition to drugs and he fell into a group of very unsavory characters. Ben got his girlfriend hooked, and she died of an overdose. So now Ben has been shipped away to a rehab center far away.
Except on this Christmas Eve day, Ben is back – meaning he left the rehab center to come home for Christmas. Holly is pleased, but she is also very wary about what Ben might be up to – or what trouble he might cause. Neal’s two younger kids love seeing the older brother whom they love. But Neal has many misgivings, seeing what happened with Ben in the recent past. Also, his sister Ivy is pissed off, because she feels that Ben has come back to ruin it for everyone, like he has done in the past.