Boy A (film)

Boy A is a 2007 British film adaptation of Jonathan Trigell's critically acclaimed novel of the same name. The film premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival.

It is directed by John Crowley and stars Andrew Garfield (who won the 2008 Best Actor BAFTA TV Award for his performance), Peter Mullan, and Katie Lyons. The North American cinematic release was distributed by The Weinstein Company.

Plot

Andrew Garfield portrays Eric Wilson, Boy A. The film commences when Eric is released from either a secure unit or prison under the name Jack Burridge. His past is told through flashbacks.

Eric Wilson befriends Philip Craig, who is a troublemaker and rescues him from a group of bullies. It is later disclosed that Philip is the victim of rape perpetrated by his older brother. Philip gets into an argument with a girl from their school who comes across the two boys loitering in a park. She criticizes them and refers to them as "scum" when she witnesses Philip vandalising a park sign with a Stanley knife. Philip approaches her and starts slashing at her forearms with the knife. He grabs the girl and drags her under a bridge. When Philip drops the knife, Eric picks it up, and follows them under the bridge. The girl is killed, although the film shows neither who kills her nor how.

Boy A

Boy A is the title of a 2004 novel by British writer Jonathan Trigell.

Premise

The book is the story of a child criminal released into society as an adult, taking its title from the court practice of concealing the identity of child defendants and child killers.

Success

Published by Serpent's Tail in English speaking countries, the novel has been translated into French under the title Jeux d'Enfants published by Gallimard and also into Chinese, Russian, Dutch and Spanish. It won the 2004 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the 2005 Waverton Good Read Award. On World Book Day (UK) 2008, Boy A was voted the most discussion-worthy novel by a living writer in the Spread The Word poll.

Television adaptation

The book was adapted into a BAFTA award-winning TV movie that was released theatrically in some areas. The film was made by Cuba Pictures and written by Mark O'Rowe, and premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival. It was directed by John Crowley and starred Andrew Garfield (who won the 2008 Best Actor BAFTA TV Award for his performance), Peter Mullan and Katie Lyons. The film was released cinematically in the USA by the Weinstein Company on 23 July 2008.