Skip to main content
Our Hero, Balthazar film image; upset man pressing his hands to his head

Our Hero, Balthazar

This event has passed

Balthazar (Jaeden Martell) attends a private school in New York, where he spends his nights performatively condemning gun violence in front of a ring light, mostly in the hopes of impressing his crush. But when Balthazar receives a series of alarming messages from an online troll who may be planning a school shooting themselves, Balthazar travels to Texas to confront the commenter. Here he meets Solomon (an almost unrecognizable Asa Butterfield), a troubled young man fired from his job, in debt to a multi-level marketing scheme, and in possession of a small arsenal of weapons.

An incendiary dark comedy from director Oscar Boyson, who makes use of his experience producing for the Safdie brothers by ratcheting up the tension and diving deep into the twisted psyche of a mind poisoned by the internet. Martell and Butterfield deliver breakout performances as two disaffected youths on divergent paths. As the boys’ destination becomes clearer, so too do questions about power, socioeconomic status, and who gets to tell their story.

 

Supported by

ZAK logo

Media Partner

Director
Cast

Jaeden Martell, Asa Butterfield, Noah Centineo, Jennifer Ehle, Becky Ann Baker, Chris Bauer

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2025

Language

English

Film Contact
Links
18+

At International Village

19+

At The Rio

91 min
Action Comedy Documentary
Oh Boy Productions, Spacemaker, Curious Gremlin, Arkhum, Bureau Unknown, Giant Leap

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Noah Centineo, Enzo Marc, Halsey, Anthony Li, Scott Aharoni, Sinan Eczacibasi, Alihan Yalcindag, Riccardo Maddalosso, Eugene Kotlyarenko, Alex Black, Nathan Wing, Grace Zander, Del Eswar, DJ Jiang, Nicholas Erickson, Anna-nora Berstein, Zak Williams, Christian Sosa, Peter Gold, Blaine Kern III, Pir Granof

Producer

Oscar Boyson, Ricky Camilleri, Jon Wroblewski, David Duque-Estrada, Alex Hughes, Jaeden Martell, Miles Skinner

Screenwriter

Ricky Camilleri, Oscar Boyson

Cinematography

Christopher Messina

Editor

Nate DeYoung, Erin DeWitt

Original Music

James William Blades

Oscar Boyson headshot

Oscar Boyson

Oscar Boyson was born and raised in Maine and lives and works in New York City. His producing credits include Frances Ha (2012) and Mistress America (2015) for Noah Baumbach; Heaven Knows What (2014), Good Time (2017), and Uncut Gems (2019) for Josh and Benny Safdie; and the original series Chillin Island (2021) for HBO. Boyson’s directorial credits include the short film Power Signal (2023), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, and dozens of music videos, commercials, and short films.

Filmography: Power Signal (2023)

 

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

The Grapes of Wrath

Dir. John Ford
189 min

In this Film Studies workshop, Devan Scott explores the purposes of three-point lighting and the influence of German Expressionism on Hollywood studio filmmaking. Followed by a screening of The Grapes of Wrath, photographed by Gregg Toland.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Last One for the Road

Dir. Francesco Sossai
100 min

Two middle-aged drunkards drive across the Veneto region on a freewheeling bender, taking a young college student along for the ride. A celebration of the spirit of drink and the kinds of stories told around a table of old friends and too much wine.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Blue Heron

Dir. Sophy Romvari
90 min

In the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her Hungarian immigrant family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island. Their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behaviour from Jeremy, the family’s oldest child.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

How Deep Is Your Love

Dir. Eleanor Mortimer
100 min

Filmmaker Eleanor Mortimer tags along with a team of oceanographers and marine biologists as they survey the Clarion-Clipperton fracture, one of the most remote spots on Earth, home to a dazzling array of unknown creatures.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Omaha

Dir. Cole Webley
84 min

Cole Webley's road movie about a single dad taking off with his two young kids is really just a fragment of a story, yet it unfolds with such authentic lyricism it lands with a heartbreaking emotional wallop.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Amrum

Dir. Fatih Akin
93 min

Twelve-year-old Nanning (Jasper Billerbeck) sets himself a mission to secure bread and honey for his mother to snap her out of her depression. It is 1945. The war is all but lost, and such luxuries are not easy to find on the remote island of Amrum...

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre