This week’s Movie Night with The Sober Curator reviews “Palmer,” which recently debuted on Apple TV+ starring Justin Timberlake. Grab your favorite alcohol-free beverage and a box of tissues as you settle in with this heart-wrenching film that will feel like it’s based on a true story. (It’s not, but the way addiction is portrayed is very real) Timberlake, who plays an ex-convict named Eddie Palmer, strikes up a friendship with a boy from a troubled home. Played by Ryder Allen, you will become endeared with young Sam, a gender-confused boy living with his drug-addicted mother in a broken-down single-wide trailer.
Palmer has just been released from prison after serving 12 years for attempted murder. The former high school football star moves in with his Grandmother, a God-fearing woman with a kind face who enjoys chain-smoking in bed. Grandma Vivian has been caring for Sam whenever Shelly, the drug-addicted mother, runs off or is too out of it to parent. Sam has easy access to Grandma Vivian because the single-wide he shares with his mom is located in her backyard. He loves to style Grandma Vivian’s hair and wear her lipstick.
Set in the middle of nowhere Louisiana, we know the storyline of the drug-addicted Shelly all too well. Cracked out on meth or heroin, or who knows what, this tiny shell of a woman can barely take care of herself, let alone her child. Add an abusive boyfriend to the mix, and it’s not long before Shelly goes missing. Again.
Within 25 minutes, Palmer somehow becomes the primary caretaker of Sam, who prefers princesses, tea parties, and makeovers to “typical” boy stuff. What we love about Sam are his confidence and carefree spirit. This adorable, chubby-faced kid has clearly been through it all. Yet somehow, it seems simple to him to authentically be who he wants to be.
Palmer movie trailer
As much as we love ourselves some JT, it’s really Ryder Allen, as the non-binary Sam, who steals the show. My son was 9 years old when I got sober, and some of the scenes with Sam’s mother were hard for me to watch. Even all these years later, I still feel pangs of guilt for behaviors of my past. This movie explores how resilient kids can be when they have an addicted parent. But that doesn’t mean they don’t still go through struggles and feel real pain. If I were in charge of giving out Golden Globe awards, I would most certainly give one to Ryder Allen.
The Sobees Movie Night Score: 4 out of 5
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