In ‘Ben Is Back,’ Julia Roberts Cares for Her Troubled Son

10/12/2018
Updated:
10/12/2018

The trailer for the touching drama film “Ben is Back,” starring Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges, was released on Oct. 11. The film is both written and directed by Peter Hedges, Lucas’s father.

Lucas plays 19-year-old Ben Burns, who returns home unexpectedly on Christmas Eve.

His mother Holly is overjoyed to see her son, but also wary, knowing Ben’s struggle to overcome his drug addiction.

Within 24 hours, their lives are turned upside down, as Ben is forced to confront the people from his past. Holly needs to do everything in her power to help her beloved son and keep other family members safe.

In “Ben is Back,” a mother welcomes a son back home but worries if he's free of his troubles. (Screenshot/Black Bear Pictures)
In “Ben is Back,” a mother welcomes a son back home but worries if he's free of his troubles. (Screenshot/Black Bear Pictures)

Actor Lucas Hedges is just 22 years old, but he’s already earned an Academy Award nomination for playing Patrick Chandler in the drama “Manchester by the Sea” in 2016.

Lucas’s father Peter is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter for his comedy drama “About a Boy” from 2002. He has also acted in two films himself. Lucas is the second child of Susan Bruce, an actress and a poet.

The younger Hedges has starred in four movies that were nominated for the Academy Awards’ Best Picture: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Lady Bird,” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

“Ben is Back” also stars Courtney B. Vance, who plays Ben’s step-father Neal Burns. The film will be released on Dec. 7, 2018.

Lucas’s next feature “Boy Erased” will hit theaters on Nov. 2, 2018.