Father and child sit together smiling while looking at a smart phone.

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Parents' Guide to

The Parts You Lose

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Bullying and abuse in bleak, wintry character study.

Movie NR 2019 93 minutes
The Parts You Lose Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 14+

Based on 3 parent reviews

age 16+

Very emotional, and very slow pace

age 13+

Unique!

This title has:

Great role models
Too much swearing

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (3 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

The tone is as dark as the cinematography in this downbeat fable of a boy desperately in need of a friend -- both are bleakly beautiful, but this far from a feel-good movie. Wesley's life is lived in vignettes that range from stark to agonizing: the trip to school on the special-needs bus that the other boys throw snowballs at, fraught dinners with his seething dad and helpless mom in a house that's as dim as a photography development room, the daily indignity of a fellow student who wipes mucus in Wesley's hair to peals of laughter from the rest of the cafeteria.

Against such a desolate background, the arrival of Paul's wounded criminal seems like a good thing. The guy teaches Wesley some fancy checkers moves and gives him advice on vanquishing his bullies. Really, he treats the kid like he's worth something, in contrast to Wesley's own perpetually disappointed dad. The audience knows that The Parts You Lose's whole setup won't lead anywhere good, and they're right -- but it's clear that Wesley's confidence is in better shape after he helps his new friend and that a new spring in his step isn't the only thing the relationship left him with. If a frosty, deliberate character study is the fare you favor, you could do worse than this beautiful bummer of a movie.

Movie Details

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