Genre: Drama/Historical
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writers: Rachel Hallett Hardcastle & Harmony Winters
Based on the novel by S.E. Hinton
Cast: Tom Holland, Nicholas Hamilton, Casey Affleck, Sophie Turner, Jack Dylan Grazer, Alex Wolff, Isabela Merced, Peter Sarsgaard, Josh Lucas, Jack O'Connell, Chloe Sevigny
Plot: Byron (Tom Holland) and Mark (Nicholas Hamilton) go to the local pool hall to hustle unsuspecting players, which is a regular activity. The bar owner, Charlie (Casey Affleck), lets Mark and Bryon hang out there even though they're closely underaged but warns them that they'll get in trouble for scamming the wrong people one day. After finding nobody to hustle, they haven't any more credit with Charlie, Mark and Bryon go searching for M&M (Jack Dylan Grazer). They head over to the bowling alley. M&M only goes along, so Mark and Bryon decide to catch up with him as soon as he gets there. Outside, they see that the Shepard brothers, Curly and Tim, are following M&M, about to attack him. In M&M's defense, Mark and Bryon attack the Shepherds. Mark also picks their pockets so he can pay back Charlie. When Mark and Bryon see a black man nearby, they talk about attacking him until M&M admonishes them for thinking of doing the same thing that the Shepard brothers were about to do to M&M. He takes off running for home.
Mark and Bryon head over to visit Bryon's mother (Chloe Sevigny) in the hospital. When they visit her, she tells them about a kid across the hall with no visitors. Unconcerned about herself and with a soft spot for abandoned children, she suggests that Mark and Bryon cheer him up. Mark goes to visit the boy, but Bryon first stops at the hospital snack bar. M&M's sister, Cathy (Sophie Turner), who has just returned home from a private school, works at the snack bar and recognizes Bryon immediately. It takes him a while to understand her. He is attracted and wants to talk with her longer, but she isn't allowed to fraternize with customers. He leaves to visit the boy across from his mom's room.
He tells Bryon the story of how he got hurt. He and his gang were hanging out in a drugstore when an attractive black girl walked in to buy cigarettes. The others started harassing her, and as soon as one of the guys put a hand on the girl, Mike (Jack O'Connell) told them to stop.
They let her go at his insistence, and she left to catch a bus. Figuring that she had missed her bus and was at risk of more harm if she waited in that neighborhood for the next bus, Mike offered her a ride home. Afraid to trust him, but also aware of her present danger, she reluctantly accepted his offer. The entire ride home, she was scared he would hurt her, but he was a gentleman and tried to calm her down. When he dropped her off at her house, and the neighborhood boys saw that she had been crying, they incorrectly assumed that Mike had done something wrong. When he saw he was about to be attacked, he asked the girl to defend his innocence. Instead, she told the boys to "Kill the white bastard." Their attack sent him to the hospital.
He tells Bryon that he doesn't hold any resentment against the girl or black people in general. However, his father (Peter Sarsgaard) thinks it was stupidity that got him into the hospital and refused to allow his mother to visit him there.
Bryon begins looking for a job but can't find one. He'd like to work for Charlie, but Charlie tells Bryon that while he trusts his actions, he doesn't trust his words. But he does let Bryon borrow his car for his first date with Cathy.
Bryon goes to pick up Cathy and meets her parents. Her father (Josh Lucas) is clearly unhappy about M&M's hippie tendencies and low school grades. Cathy later expresses her frustrations with her father's bullying of M&M.
They arrive at the dance, and everyone looks at Cathy, which makes Bryon proud. He and Cathy have a lovely time dancing, and Bryon discovers that Cathy is a lot nicer than other girls he's been with. She is polite and doesn't try to make Bryon jealous.
Later on, Ponyboy Curtis (Alex Wolff) finds Bryon to tell him that Mark's been hurt in a fight. Mark and Ponyboy had been hanging outside when a boy took a swing at Ponyboy. Mark tried to stop the boy but ended up taking a hit. Bryon discovers that his ex-girlfriend Angela (Isabela Merced) had sent this boy to beat Ponyboy for not wanting to date her. Bryon goes to the hospital with Mark, where he gets ten stitches in the head, leaving Charlie's car and Cathy behind at the party. Just as he and Mark are about to leave and figure out a way to get home, Cathy and Ponyboy show up in Charlie's car to take them back. Mark confesses to Bryon that having him at the hospital made him feel much better because Bryon is the only family.
As Mark recuperates in bed, he and Bryon reminisce about old times getting into trouble or breaking the law. Mark laments that their gang isn't as tight as it used to be and that brotherhood is slipping away. Bryon counters that it's nice to not have to rely upon a gang to have a self-identity. When Mark asks him why he thinks things have been changing, Bryon answers, "That was then, and this is now."
This conversation affects Bryon through the next day, and he wanders around the school, feeling like an outsider more than a participant. He notices that the warring gangs, the Greasers and Socs, now resemble each other as their clothing styles have changed. He also begins to suspect that his Socs friends were only his friends to show off to each other how liberal and accepting of the working class they were.
Bryon doesn't see Mark at school but doesn't worry about it because Mark often cuts school. But he learns that Mark has been arrested again, this time for stealing the school principal's car to meet with the probation officer he was assigned after being caught stealing cars. Because quickly getting out of the sticky situation, Mark manages to avoid punishment from the principal and the probation officer, who instead offers to pick him up and drop him off for his weekly appointment. Bryon is angry with Mark for getting into trouble, but he relents since no permanent harm came from his pain.
Bryon thinks about Cathy and how she is so different from Angela, the only other girl he's really cared about. They're both "gutsy," but in different ways. When Cathy tells Bryon that Ponyboy asked her out, Bryon gets jealous and asks Cathy to make sure she can't go out with Ponyboy. Presumably, to afford his upcoming date with Cathy, Bryon and Mark go hustling at Charlie's.
Mark and Bryon hustle two Texans whom they play until the bar closes. As Mark and Bryon leave Charlie's, the two Texans, who resigned earlier, surprise the two boys outside the bar. One holds a gun, and the other gets out his brass knuckles. Bryon tells them to let Mark go, but they refuse. Just as they're about to attack the two boys, Charlie comes into the alley and points a shotgun at the Texans. Bryon and Mark think they've escaped when the Texan surprisingly takes a shot at Charlie and the boys. Charlie shields the boys with his body, and Mark grabs the shotgun to fire back. The Texans escape unharmed, but the boys discover that Charlie has been shot dead.
After the murder, Bryon feels out of sorts, as if the rest of the world's speeding by him and he's stuck in slow motion. Mark tries to help by telling Bryon that Charlie knew the risks of confronting the Texans with a shotgun. Bryon reminds Mark that Charlie had tried to warn them about hustling beforehand and that, because of them, Charlie's dreams are over. Mark counters with "things happen."
Bryon and Cathy start spending more time together and sharing their feelings with each other. Eventually, Bryon feels closer to Cathy than Mark, and subsequently, Mark grows jealous.
Mark and Bryon reconcile after Mark accepts that his and Bryon's relationship is changing. Meanwhile, remembering Charlie's words, Bryon changes his look and attitude to get a job. Mark promises he will soon start bringing in money too.
Later, Bryon talks to Cathy about her fear that M&M is smoking marijuana. Cathy is shocked to discover that Bryon isn't as concerned as she is and has smoked marijuana. She asks him to stop because he is good enough not to resort to illicit activities. Bryon realizes he loves Cathy.
The two pick up M&M and Mark and drive down the Ribbon, a two-mile stretch of road famous for cruising. When they're stopped at an intersection, a car pulls up next to theirs, and one of its occupants yells something nasty to them. Mark gets out of the car and punches the boy. Bryon is impressed with Mark's quick response, but Cathy is not. When she tries to understand his violent behavior, he tells her he doesn't want to be analyzed. He gets out of the car and joins up with his other friend, leaving Cathy, Bryon, and M&M figuring out what to do next.
As the three drive away, M&M, keeping to himself, sees some other friends of his and decides to leave the car too. Surprisingly, he tells Cathy he's never coming back home and walks away. Cathy and Bryon try to get him back in the car, but he disappears and unsuccessfully searches for him for the rest of the night.
Bryon helps Cathy explain to her parents what happened. Cathy and Bryon fear the worst while Cathy's father and Mark think there's nothing to worry about. This leads to another disagreement between Mark and Bryon about how carefree youth really is.
A few weeks after M&M's disappearance, Mark and Bryon hang out like old times, cruising along with the Ribbon. They stop to talk with Angela and tease her about her new life as a married woman. With a secretive plan, Mark suggests to Angela that they buy some rum and hang out. Not one to turn down free alcohol, Angela agrees. Already drunk, Angela breaks down and admits to Bryon that her life is a disappointment. After she passes out, Mark takes the opportunity to cut off her long hair. At first, Bryon objects, especially after Angela's sad confession, but Mark reminds Bryon that Angela sent Mark to the hospital. Afterward, they leave Angela and her hair in her front yard.
Bryon, still drunk at home, starts crying and asks Mark why people like Mike and Charlie get hurt for caring about someone. He also urges Mark why his parents shot each other. That's when Mark tells him to stop thinking about why things happen and all of the what-ifs. He argues that when people start doing that, they end being able to get away with jobs and start growing old. Bryon finally falls asleep.
The next day, Bryon goes to work hungover. After work, Mark surprises him by picking him up in Charlie's old car – now Bryon's – and takes him to the house where M&M has been staying. The people inside recognize Mark and call him "Cat." He asks if M&M – or "Baby Freak" as he's known there – is there, but they tell him he hasn't been around and is "going to crash." Mark and Bryon drive home.
Later that evening, after he drops Cathy off from their date, Bryon drives to his friend Terry's house to pick up Mark. No one is home, so he waits on the porch, thinking that they've just gone out for alcohol. Angela's brothers, Tim and Curly, see him there and stop. They confront him about what happened to Angela, and, for the first time, he decides to tell the truth. They beat him unconscious, and he wakes up to Mark looking after him. Mark assures him he and their friends will get back at the Shepherds, but he makes Mark promise him he won't. He's tired of the endless fighting back and forth and wants it to stop. Mark sticks to his promise and looks after Bryon all night.
Bryon, like Mark, had to go to the hospital after his beating. Bryon explains to Mark that he didn't hate the people who beat him, just like Mike. This infuriates Mark, who wants to relieve his guilt over the assault by exacting revenge on the Shepherds. He admits that he was anxious when he discovered Bryon's unconscious body for the first time in his life. Cathy later comes to visit Bryon, and she, like Mark, cries over Bryon's condition. Bryon takes that opportunity to finally tell Cathy he loves her.
When Bryon recovers, he visits Charlie's grave to pay his respects and thank him for saving his life. He also follows through on his commitment to take Cathy to the drug house to find M&M. They learn from one of the dwellers that M&M took acid that day and reacted poorly. All-day long, people have been trying to stop him from jumping out the window. When they finally see M&M, he is a dirtier, thinner, more frightened version of himself. He tells them of the bad acid trip he had, still clearly shaken by it. They decide to take M&M to the hospital and meet M&M's dad there.
M&M's doctor pronounces that he may never fully recover mentally. Cathy is in hysterics.
When Bryon goes home, he thinks about how his life isn't as simple as it once was. Back in his room, he searches for a pack of cigarettes under Mark's bed but finds a large stash of drugs instead. Bryon realizes that Mark is a drug dealer. That's how he's been getting his money and how he knew where M&M was. He'd been selling drugs to the people at that house. The pain that drugs caused M&M and Cathy convinces Bryon to call the cops on Mark.
While Bryon waits for the cops to show up, Mark comes home. Bryon confronts Mark about the drugs and is frustrated that Mark doesn't see anything wrong with selling drugs. Mark defends his decision by saying that if kids are going to buy them anyway, they should make money off it. He also tries to reassure Bryon that he wasn't the one who sold M&M the acid. This does little to comfort Bryon. Mark does offer to stop selling, but Bryon has had enough and tells Mark that the police are. Mark is in disbelief until the police show up, at which point he simply asks Bryon how he could have done this to him.
The next day Bryon is racked with confusion, not sure if he did the right thing. Cathy visits him, worried because Bryon hasn't contacted her since Mark went to jail. He is rude to her and accuses her of being glad that Mark is in prison. When Cathy asks him why he's so mean, he realizes that he no longer cares for her.
Mark has his trial and is sentenced to five years in the state reformatory. Bryon continues to work at the grocery store and even gets a promotion. He feels like he's become a different person, a mixture of the people he's come into contact with within the last year.
He finally gets to visit Mark, who's at risk of being sent to the state prison. Bryon tries to act like nothing happened, but Mark coldly stares at him. Bryon notes how he had to do what he did and wishes for a way to make it like before. Mark leans in, his lion-like eyes coldly burning into Bryon. He says, "Well... That was then... This... This is now..."
Bryon decides not to revisit since Mark denied him access and is sent to state prison as feared. While Bryon drives around town trying to clear his mind. He drives to Bryon's & Mark's spot remembering the good times, more than anything to his younger days when he had all the answers. A tear slowly leaves his eye, which he quickly gets rid of. His face turns to stone forcing no emotion to show, driving off into the dark.
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