The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

The absorbing rags-to-riches-to-rags story — a must for any classic film fan — is told in The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, directed by Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri.

Andresen’s determination to rise above misfortune, and his hopes for himself, make this movie less than a total tragedy. But it’s an often shudder-inducing cautionary tale.

It is a desperately unhappy story, sympathetically told by film-makers Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri.

A film five years in the making about the poisonous effects of movie fame on the young, this fascinating but dismally depressing Swedish documentary is well worth seeing, but never fully escapes the feeling that it’s all been seen before.

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World isn’t a perfect watch, and it's often confusing and confounding. But it gets at the heart of this forlorn figure, a once idol turned tragic Greek hero. It’s unflinching, and one of the most honest portraits of the pitfalls that can happen in child stardom.

This documentary has value as a damning account of the film-world’s treatment of a child actor, yet as a piece of art and a personal portrait, its vagueness creates unease.

The result is a cinematic curio in search of a more conclusive theme and emotional payoff.