If You Haven't Read Beautiful Boy, You're Missing Out on a Remarkable True Story

In 2005, David wrote an essay for The New York Times chronicling his son Nic's addiction. The powerful essay tells the story of a bright young man whose parents divorced when he was just 4. David and his first wife shared custody of their son, and by all accounts it seemed that Nic flourished. He was a top student throughout his younger years, he played sports, and he wrote for the school paper. David even notes that Nic showed early confidence beyond his years when kids tried to tease him at school for wearing tights. However, by the time Nic was 12, David discovered marijuana in his son's bag.

By the time he was 14, Nic had received a one-day suspension for buying marijuana on his high school campus. He continued to excel at school, but his road to addiction escalated with the introduction of meth. From that point on, David, his wife, and his ex-wife all worked to get Nic into treatment even as he continued to use, disappear, and sometimes steal from his younger siblings. Through it all, David never gave up on his son or stopped coming when he called. By 2005, Nic was sober, after a number of relapses, and his father's story "My Addicted Son" appeared in the Times.

In 2007, Nic released his New York Times bestselling memoir, Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines. The book tells his story from the first time he used straight through his journey to get clean. His father released his own memoir about his experience parenting Nic in 2008. David's book is entitled Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction, and it ultimately gave the film its title.

These days, both David and Nic work to promote drug rehabilitation and have devoted much of their writing to the science of addiction. Additionally, Nic works as a writer on 13 Reasons Why, and he previously served as a producer on The Killing. Beautiful Boy is set to hit UK cinemas on Jan. 18, 2019.