‘Eric LaRue’: A Mother’s Healing Journey

‘Eric LaRue’ should be chased with the documentaries ‘I Am Living Proof’ and ‘The Work’; soul healing is available in both religious and nonreligious settings.

Janice LaRue (Judy Greer) in “Eric LaRue.” Dana Hawley/Magnolia Pictures

NR | 1h 59m | Drama | 2025

While not a faith-based film, “Eric LaRue” examines how two different faith communities deal with a traumatic event. By comparing and contrasting them, it shows how each one comes up short. An Evangelical congregation illustrates the currently popular term “spiritual bypassing,” that is, the use of superficial, talking-the-talk faith to avoid confronting difficult truths. The other, a Presbyterian congregation, presents an example of a well-meaning but ineffectual pastor.

“Eric LaRue” is mostly about the reaction to those sets of circumstances by the mother of the titular character. Janice LaRue’s boy Eric (Judy Greer and Nation Sage Henrikson) shot and killed three bullies at his high school.

Based on Chicago playwright Brett Neveu’s 2002 play of the same name, this quietly powerful film version is the feature directing debut of actor Michael Shannon.

Janice LaRue (Judy Greer), in “Eric LaRue.” Dana Hawley/Magnolia Pictures

Shannon tells a mean story. While fairly depressing given the subject matter, the film features top-shelf acting and is highly thought-provoking. It’s a shame, however, that the above-mentioned outcomes—zealous but skin-deep religion versus an incompetent priest—are the only two options presented. More on that later.

The Protagonist: Janice

Caustic and withdrawn, Janice is a raw lump of unresponsiveness; her nerves completely shot; her soul soaked in constant melancholy. After an annoying customer in the firearms department of the big-box store she works at triggers a screaming outburst, Janice is given the boot.

Ron LaRue (Alexander Skarsgard) and Janice LaRue (Judy Greer ) are husband and wife, in “Eric LaRue.” Dana Hawley/Magnolia Pictures

School shooter Eric is now incarcerated at a prison that his mom has yet to visit. As she attempts to move through her days, Janice is besieged by a local community of mostly well-meaning people who metaphorically drum their fingers impatiently on the table in the hopes she’ll soon move past the horror and guilt, so they can get back to the business of feeling comfortable. But Janice won’t be badgered into doing a rush-job on her grief-processing.

In the local supermarket, her Presbyterian pastor, Steve Calhan (Paul Sparks) kindly confronts her, suggesting she needs to “stop thinking about what happened and start thinking about what comes next.” He feels Janice should come to a meeting with the mothers of the murdered schoolmates, so they can all work through the trauma together. A nice idea in theory, but when the actual meetings begin, mild-mannered Steve discovers he can’t handle the outpouring of rage and invective from the other mothers.

Janice’s Husband

Meanwhile, Janice’s husband Ron (Alexander Skarsgard, almost unrecognizable in beta-male mode), is slowly succumbing to the siren call of his unctuously fervent and inappropriately hug-happy HR office manager Lisa (Alison Pill). She coaxes him to jump ship to an evangelical church, run by cult-of-personality pastor Bill Verne (Tracy Letts).

Pastor Verne fills fragile Ron with promises of a Jesus who will wash away Ron’s pain completely and forevermore. As mentioned, Janice—not nearly as desperately in need of a life preserver as her spouse—is highly skeptical of Ron’s constant and facile (if passionately zealous) parroting of Bill’s banal balms and biblical bromides. One wonders what her attraction to Ron was in the first place. While she observes with mild disgust Ron’s ability to find solace in platitudes, she’s envious of his ability to get a good night’s sleep.

Ron LaRue (Alexander Skarsgard), in “Eric LaRue.” Dana Hawley/Magnolia Pictures

‘Eric LaRue’

Standing on the shoulders of playwright Neveu, director Shannon appears to share the same perspective; that very little genuine soul-assistance and healing exists for independent thinkers caught in the crosshairs of deep tragedy. Spiritual communities across the board obviously beg to differ.

Office manager Lisa (Alison Pill) and Pastor Bill Verne (Tracy Letts) recruiting a faithful flock of evangelical churchgoers, in “Eric LaRue.” Dana Hawley/Magnolia Pictures

The film’s intention to be thought-provoking by advocating for Janice’s stance works. It’s not atheist, it’s not agnostic—it just vehemently eschews the ill-used, glib, painless aspects of religion that facilitates avoidance of gazing into the abyss.

Hilariously, Janice’s apron, visor, and name-tag wearing boss, Jack McCoy (Lawrence Grimm), quotes Friedrich Nietzsche, saying, “If you gaze in the abyss too long, the abyss gazes back.” Janice witheringly looks at him like the weak man she esteems him to be. As character Col. Nathan R. Jessep shouted in “A Few Good Men,” “You can’t handle the truth!!” Jack can’t handle it. Janice can.

Janice sees the victims’ mothers succumb to the easier path of hating her—the parent of the criminal—rather than acknowledge that she’s lost her son too. She sees her husband wallow in the easier belief that other men’s dead sons bask in Jesus’s smile in heaven. She sees Ron refuse to face the fact that they died too soon because he didn’t teach his son to how to stand up to bullying non-lethally. She sees her own son passive-aggressively insinuate that it’s somehow her fault that, while sick, he vomited on himself in his cell and the prison guards took their sweet time doing anything about it.

The Takeaway

Greer, normally a Hollywood A-list comedienne, reveals with this performance that she can look into the tragedy abyss with the best of them. Her face registers an astounding range of emotion.

What struck me the most was the facial expression she arrives at during each confrontation. This blank stare is anything but. It’s akin to what Native American hunters called “seeing eternity”—using wide-angle vision that takes in the entire landscape while simultaneously and paradoxically facilitating the ability to pinpoint the tiniest of animal movements. It’s like a form of X-ray vision. Janice sees into their souls and realizes the entire herd of people surrounding her can’t handle their own truth. We see her visibly find freedom in each of these revelations.

Janice LaRue (Judy Greer) and her Presbyterian pastor, Steve Calhan (Paul Sparks), in “Eric LaRue.” Dana Hawley/Magnolia Pictures

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the movie’s most powerful scene is at the end. Janice, immediately after visiting her son in prison, pulls the car to the shoulder, abandons the vehicle, drops her sweater in the middle of the country road, and walks into the distance to the strains of Bob Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street,” performed by Scott Lucas & the Married Men. Janice has outgrown and shed her skin, and found freedom. It’s a beautiful credit roll.

It’s a mutedly beautiful movie too, but anyone viewing “Eric LaRue” would do well to chase this bitter pill with the recent documentary about faith healing, “I Am Living Proof,” as well as the documentary “The Work” (2017), which covers the unbelievably powerful non-religious emotional-healing work of the international mytho-poetic men’s movement. The healing of deep emotional wounds is absolutely available in both religious and non-religious settings. I’d love to see Michael Shannon take on that subject as a sophomore directing project.

“Eric LaRue” provides hope for recovery from grief. The film demonstrates that “time heals all wounds.” Yet, in the absence of powerful faith, highly-skilled facilitators, or both, it may have to happen later than sooner. “Eric LaRue” is about later. “I Am Living Proof” and “The Work” are about sooner.

Promotional poster for “Eric LaRue.” Dana Hawley/Magnolia Pictures

“Eric LaRue” is streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. 

‘Eric LaRue’ Director: Michael Shannon Starring: Judy Greer, Alexander Skarsgard, Alison Pill, Tracy Letts, Paul Sparks MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 1 hour, 59 minutes Release Date: April 4, 2025 Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

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