CinemaDocumentary about Shia Labeouf’s course is even more crazy than you think is in Cannes and filmed by one of her alumni, Slauson Rec narrates the theater collective that labeouf co-funded in the south-central Los Angelespor Redation

In 2018, SHIA LABEOUF He was heartbroken, the drift, in a state he described as “spiritual illness.” So the actor did what many we did at that time when we needed serious help: he went to Twitter. In the video that Labeouf He posted on the platform (now called “x”, blah blah blah), he stated that he had an idea. There was a space in southern Los Angeles called SLAUSON RECCenter. He would be there on Saturday morning, and next Saturday, and the following Saturday. Whoever wanted to appear. It would be kind of a “class”, but don’t expect lessons. Labeouf I was really looking for employees for some undefined project. Prior experience in industry was not necessary. Participants just needed to have “a story that needed to be told.” And they had to be devoted to the truth. Being 100% true is very important for Labeouf. Remember that.

One of those who responded to the call was a 21 -year -old texan Leo Lewis O’Neil. Newcomer to the city of angels, he has been going through difficult times since he moved. The idea of ​​not only knowing a movie star, but of participating in a new creative venture led by Labeouf It seemed too good to let it pass. And the center was five minutes from where he lived. The first Saturday was more an event than a class, to be honest. But there was an unpredictable, pulsating energy in the exercises and exchanges that was undeniable.

Aspiring filmmaker, O’Neil had taken a camera by habit. Labeouf allowed him to film everything. The following Saturday, O’Neil asked if it could be the official archivist of what would soon be known as SLAUSON REC THEATER COMPANY. The actor said yes.

Years later, long after the chairs were thrown, the turbine volume shouts ceased, the tears dried, and what was a lighthouse of hope for some formation artists to have shattered on the rocks of a man’s inability to contain his own demons, O’Neil asked another question to Labeouf. Could it turn accumulated filming into a documentary about what went wrong? It would have to be 100% true, answered Labeouf. But once again, he said yes. Thank God. Otherwise, we would not have one of the most devastating, raw portraits and without a celebrity concessions completely losing the control already recorded for posterity.

Displayed in debut in Cannes Festival 2025 This Sunday (via Rolling Stone), SLAUSON REC It captures the good, the bad and the horrible of the two years and little existence of the company. But suggest that the end result is a triple draw would be a lie – the “horrible” wins washed here. Documenting how the growing impatience of Labeouf With the group led to outbreaks of biblical fury, physical aggressions and a professional asshole behavior, the movie paints a truly scary portrait of the actor. Even though O’Neil Sinalize that this is a work done with love for your old mentor, Labeouf Still appears as a monster. Those who delight in the “Shia-denfreude” – The pleasure of seeing more public evidence of your badness – will be in paradise. The rest of us is forced to watch with half -circled eyes, as those who witness a car accident that only gets worse every second.

All this noise, fury and outbreaks category 5 come later, naturally. SLAUSON REC It treats those first glorious days, full of promise and proximity to a star, in a way that reflects the students’ own enchantment. Labeouf He offered those dreamers not only a safe space to fail, but a “laboratory” where they could unleash their imagination alongside someone with enough influence to open doors. He offered encouragement, enthusiasm and the feeling that everyone was part of his mission to create “as many creative churches as possible.” O’Neil also highlights some of the “apostles” of Shiaespecially Zekea young man in his early twenties with the modest goal of becoming “one of the greatest actors of all time,” and a young and horsepower -passed young woman Sarah. They may seem random choices to focus. Spoiler: They are not.

Still, the general focus is on the utopian community orbiting around this intense figure. Not even doubts about their impact on the surrounding community in southern LA – are they being inclusive? Socially responsible? – And the loss of the original space discourages the group. When they start rehearsing 10 minutes from a piece larger than Labeouf flame of The New Humanthe mood mixes enthusiasm “Let’s do this show” with a slight air of worship. The positive reception to something that resembles a modern rereading of The Human Centopeia It makes them believe that their leader’s goal of changing the world is very close.

Cuts to: March 2020. the drain pandemic part of the group’s momentum, and the meetings in the Zoom saw arenas of power disputes, with Labeouf exercising veto power. Everyone is frustrated. No one wants to give up. The solution found is a drama set in a test center of Covid that mixes theater, improvisation and cinema. It’s called 5711 AVALONIt will be staged in a parking lot and is intended to become, according to Labeouf, “an epic the size of Cirque du Soleil.” At this point, O’Neil Already showed us what happens when the group guru loses patience, in a scene where he screams for lack of focus and leaves rehearsals. When they start rehearsing in the external space, the wick Shia It is even shorter. One day, the developing piece is the second coming of The death of a traveling clerk. In the other, it is “total trash.” Critical and contradictory notes are given, and when they are not strictly followed, everything becomes chaos. The storm is approaching… increasingly.

And when it arrives, with winds capable of destroying everything, good luck. SLAUSON REC does not soften or sweeten the scenes in which Labeouf Dump torrents of verbal abuse, circulate shirtless by the set (where neither chairs are safe), or on top of an actor for “having attitude”. The scenes are presented raw, leaving us gaping. There is no other way to describe the moment when Labeouf Physically assaults the smallest and younger Zeke Or corner another actor against the wall with the forearm on his neck, but as aggression. The threat of violence hangs over each rehearsal, which is already over 70 days in a row, interrupted only by real explosions. Sarah, the most devoted of the disciples of Shiarefuses to visit her sick mother in the hospital for fear of being fired if she misses. Labeouf Wait even the mother’s funeral. After rehearsing her scenes with another actress she considers “more worthy,” he fires her.

These are these embarrassing and impossible moments of loving your eyes – and there are many – that will be remembered when talking about SLAUSON REC. And believe me, they are difficult to digest. You feel ashamed for Labeoufwhich clearly transforms his internal monologue of self-appreciation into external attacks against people who only want to please him. He is the first to say that he is his worst enemy – but listen, my frogs, why did they leave a scorpion how I climb on his back? You feel empathy for those who are stuck in this cycle with him. And he feels angry to realize that his fame, in the eyes of many involved, gives him Carta Branca to be horrible. (Sarah It even points that. It is no use.) The idea that “genius” forgives everything, and that “honesty above all” justifies any attitude, is tested here to the limit. None of this is excusable. It is a portrait of an artist as an authoritarian megalomaniac.

When O’Neil ends this project of two and a half hours with an epilogue, two years after the last presentation of 5711 AVALON And the group’s dissolution, he can capture two real extraordinary moments. Is in the house of Labeoufrecording a kind of postmort interview. The star says he approved the film for being “the Supreme Virtue sign.” Look how cool I am to accept this, he says, letting his self -awareness fight with his self -depreciation and ego. This is the first moment. The second comes when Labeouf It admits that it owes everyone to all – to some more than others. He doesn’t know if he will be able to redeem himself, but he wants to try. And then we heard a cry behind the camera. O’Neil lets the scene roll for a long time long, with its bold sobs and Labeouf silently thrilling in front of the camera.

You realize that SLAUSON REC It deals with many things – the dangers of good intentions to the fact that fame does not eliminate their defects, only amplifies them. But in the end, it is an extraordinary act of searching for closure. And it’s hard not to imagine that, standing in the audience, when receiving an ovation at the most prestigious film festival in the world, O’Neil It felt this closure as well. Labeouf It was there, with a mustache that looked like a mixture of police officer from the 1970s with a gunman from the 1870s. But gave the spotlight to the filmmaker, knowing that this was the night of O’Neil. This documentary will ultimately be the legacy of the entire experience of the SLAUSON REC. The star wanted to change the world. Instead, he stood aside and saw someone else’s life change right before his eyes.

+++ Read more: FKA Twigs accuses Shia Labeouf of ‘abusing’ process before judgment