Nowhere Boy, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, offers a peek into the life of John Lennon before the Beatles. In the film, we see the forces that shaped him as a young man. These personalities move around his character like great waves shaping a rock: his mostly absent mother, played with erratic and vulnerable charisma by Anne Marie Duff, and his steadfast and reserved Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott-Thomas), who raised him from a boy of five years old and struggles with her own pride and powerful love for her nephew. The film is raw emotionally, capturing with aplomb the ups and downs as John struggles to come to terms with who he is, and with the pain and love surrounding his family and his childhood. We see him buy his first guitar, meet Paul McCartney and George Harrison, and discover and develop the language of his genius. Nowhere Boy is a moving film, and Aaron Johnson is magnetic in his performance as John Lennon. This film removes itself entirely from musical biography and becomes, instead, a beautiful and subtle coming-of-age tale.

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Available January 25th on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Download.