Lost Boys

As a young director, the idea of taking real world issues and translating them into a succinct story while simultaneously entertaining an audience is one of the many joys I get from creating films. I tend to stray away from preaching to the audience but I do like the idea of presenting specific ideas in an interesting way in order to bring momentary attention to them.

So, when my team and I were presented with the idea of experimenting in our filmmaking and moving away from the traditional storytelling structure, I could think of no better topic than masculinity, men and their place in society as a whole. Lost Boys aims to serve as a subjective reflection and observation into the lives of two young men on a path of self-destruction, eventually falling prey to suicide. The aim isn’t to bring awareness to anything in specific but rather to bring forth a feeling of reflection towards the current young male condition in the modern world.

Speaking as a young man, the pressures of society are immense. In your late teens and early 20s, major life decisions are being made such as who you may potentially spend the rest of your life with and what you may do as a career for the next 40 years. There is also an invisible burden of performance placed on men specifically to be a certain type of man in order to be a “real man”. These pressures come from our peers, elders and potential romantic partners. Looking at those expectations as a whole brought this idea that not every man is able to meet those standards and how consistently trying to fulfil everything you are expected to be may not yield the results you expected.
Lost Boys follows Kyle and Lucas who were friends from childhood and depicts how their separation has impacted and played a role in their eventual deaths by suicide. Living seemingly different lives. Kyle begins as a corporate man at a young age whereas Lucas living the party lifestyle both find themselves suffering from the same problem. Narrated through the voice of Kyle in past tense we can understand as he reflects how the physical manifestation of societal expectations led him and his ex-best friend to their own demise.

I really enjoyed being able to experiment with the idea of a cautionary tale/fable to tell such an important and personal topic that is not often seen in modern media. While also providing the audience with an entertaining piece that doesn’t stink of pretentious film student avant-garde piece.