Our Hero, Balthazar is a new film that allows us into the terrifying world of social media. What happens when a teenager takes gun control into his own hands? Chaos. The new Oscar Boyson film stars Jaeden Martell as a young man named Balthy who begins making gun control videos as a way of impressing his crush but takes matters into his own hands when he thinks a “troll” is a potential school shooter. We at Collider are proud to share insight into the film from Boyson as well as stars Martell, Noah Centineo, Asa Butterfield, and co-writer and producer Ricky Camilleri.
Boyson shared a director’s note about the film, saying, “In the attention economy, all of life is a performance. Identity, ideology, tragedy. But how can we authentically process anything if it’s all a performance? And if it’s all a performance, how do we know what to take seriously? With this film, my hope is to explore these questions through two lost American boys struggling to see the world and see each other, and in doing so to capture just how tragic and hilarious it is to be a young man in this decaying empire.”
He also went on to talk about what their goal was for a film like Our Hero, Balthazar. “We wanted to make a film that captures the surreal, sometimes absurd pressure young people feel today—how easy it is to miss the warning signs when everything feels like a joke until it’s not,” Boyson said. “So many stories focus on the aftermath of violence. We were more interested in what leads up to it—the chaos, the comedy, the confusion. I was watching these teen boys mirror influencers—saying and doing things that felt totally disconnected from who they were—just to build a following. That kind of mimicry didn’t exist in the early internet. Back then, there wasn’t a formula. Now there’s a script, and everyone’s trying to act it out.”
Ricky Camilleri and Noah Centineo on Making Something “Truly” Special
In the images exclusively released by Collider, we can see Balthy’s more dramatic moments. One has him with a gunshot to the head in what looks like his school hallway and the other is him screaming. Whether that’s in one of his videos or in another scene, we don’t yet know. But a lot of them explore Balthy’s relationship with Solomon (Butterfield). We see the two shooting together, standing in a field, and getting incredibly close to one another.
One of the hard parts of a film like Our Hero Balthazar was finding a balance between commentary and not glorifying the unfortunate world we live in here in the states. For Camilleri, he shared how it was a goal of his and Boyson’s to make sure that the film wasn’t trying to “normalize” these school shootings and making sure that they were as authentic as possible. “We didn’t want to make a movie that lectures the audience or tells the story of a community coming together in the aftermath of a mass shooting. No one should ever have to get over a mass shooting and telling those stories feel like a kind propaganda for the normalization of mass shootings,” he said. “Social media has rendered nearly all happenings inauthentic. We are so immediately inundated by response and commentary that our own personal reactions to mass tragedy quickly become a response to the response to the response.”
Centineo, who became a darling in films like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, has a unique role within the film. Not only is he playing Balthy’s life coach, Anthony, but he also serves as an executive producer on the film. He shared one of the reasons why he and producing partner Enzo Marc were drawn to Our Hero Balthazar. “My partner Enzo Marc and I are honored for Our Hero Balthazar to be the first film to carry the Arkhum banner. Oscar Boyson is a bold new auteur who has crafted something truly original — a film that’s daring, unsettling, and yet also unexpectedly hilarious and moving. We’re blown away by the transformative performances from Jaeden Martell and Asa Butterfield and can’t wait to share Oscar’s singular vision with the world.”
Jaeden Martell and Asa Butterfield on Exploring Identity and Anger
Martell, who has been in films like Knives Out and the recent A24 comedy Y2K, knows how to play complicated characters. With Balthazar, it was still a challenge because, as Martell points out, he’s someone who doesn’t even know who he is. “There’s something rewarding about playing someone who propels the story, who is so out of control that he is in control. But playing someone so confused about their identity creates a kind of whiplash—a nauseating effect that even touches real-life relationships.”
Another iconic young actor in the film is Butterfield, known for Ender’s Game but also for his beloved role as Otis in the Netflix series Sex Education. His role as Solomon in Our Hero Balthazar is decidedly different because he’s angry, “confrontational” and, as Butterfield points out, completely different from himself. “I was drawn to the challenge of playing someone so flawed and abrasive, but still deeply human. Underneath his spiky, confrontational exterior is this desperate need for love—that complexity was what excited me,” he said. “Tapping into anger and emotional extremes was something I hadn’t really done before. I’m not a confrontational person by nature, so it pushed me to explore parts of myself I hadn’t accessed in other roles.”
You can watch this amazing cast bring to life Our Hero Balthazar at Tribeca. In the meantime, check out the exclusive images above.
