“Beautiful Boy” starring Timothée Chalamet out mid January is a harrowing and uplifting tale of a high-achieving boy’s descent into hard drugs and his journalist/writer father’s anguished efforts to save him through years of relapses.
Nic Sheff was born 20 July 1982 6am Berkeley, California and his parents split when he was 4. He grew up seemingly happy, bouncing between the two parents. But he started smoking marijuana when he was 12, began drinking heavily and by 18 he had moved on to crystal meth, sometimes combined with heroin. He stole from everyone, including his little brother and his grandparents, prostituted himself, lived in a park, overdosed, nearly lost his arm to an infection, and almost died from convulsions brought on by repeatedly injecting himself with cocaine.
He said more recently: ‘If I’m not living on the verge of death, I feel like I’m not really living.’ Now 36, he has been clean and sober for eight years. There was addiction in the family with an alcoholic grandfather who drank himself to death, and mental illnesses like bipolar disorder on both sides of the family. The film is based on two best-selling memoirs by father and son.
Nic has a New Moon in Cancer on his Ascendant in a ferociously difficult and frustrated square to a 4th house Mars Pluto Saturn which does suggest extreme emotional reactions connected to his home and roots. His Neptune opposition Venus, inconjunct his Moon and sextile Mars Pluto would exacerbate his escapist tendencies.
His creative 7th harmonic is strong which can also be on a fine mental balance. His pleasure-seeking 9H and victim/healer 12H are also marked; as is his get-it-together 5th Harmonic. The film offers no easy answers for a happy-every-after story and he will face challenges with tr Pluto hitting his New Moon square Mars Pluto for several years ahead.
His father David Sheff, 23 December 1955, Boston, Massachusetts, is a hugely determined Sun Capricorn with Saturn in Scorpio square Pluto in Leo and Jupiter in Virgo; with an innovative Uranus inconjunct his Sun and trine his Saturn. He’s also got an emphasised Neptune on the point of a T square to Venus opposition Uranus, giving him a creative streak and escapist tendencies as well.
David’s Sun opposes Nic’s Venus for an affectionate bond, with David’s nurturing Moon in Nic’s 10th promoting him to find a better direction for his son’s life. David’s Uranus is also conjunct Nic’s Cancer Sun which isn’t an easy combination but perhaps gave him the insight to overcome Nic’s hyper-emotional responses to his life.
Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun opposition Venus; with an adventurous and lucky Jupiter Uranus; plus an angry, unfair composite Mars Saturn. But happily there was enough positive there to hold them together through the worst of times.