SYNOPSIS:

It’s the summer of 1964. Love of surfing and The Beatles is sweeping the country. After the assassination of president Kennedy there’s finally a buoyancy in the air, and it brings changes, wonderful and wicked, to 12-year-old Thomas Oakley. His working poor San Diego neighborhood is full of risks he must navigate; humiliation at school, a bully is after him, and his abusive step-father makes life hell for him, his mom and younger sister.

There are also unexpected delights: adventures in a maze of tunnels under the city, a new fad with this thing called a ‘skateboard,’ outwitting a perverse Eskimo Pie truck driver.

However, when Thomas makes a new friend, Kent, his life takes a profound turn. Kent, relentlessly charming and endlessly sunny, is a few years older but small, he could pass for Thomas’s twin. This boy embodies all the magic and mischief of Peter Pan. At first.

Despite an obsessive fascination with the fairy tale images and lightness of Disneyland, Kent leads Thomas down through a shadowy world of theft, deception and manipulation, enticing him into an exhilarating but dubious secret life.

It’s a relief from his family and school life, yet is a terrifying excursion into a realm Thomas never knew existed. But when the boys, at last, steal from the wrong person, Kent subtly guides Thomas toward a decision no kid should have to make.

With the authorities and his step-father hot after them, the boys run away from home. Where’s the one place two kids can escape an oppressive reality and find relief in a land of spectacle and joy? Kent, who has been seventeen times, is determined to redeem all the thrilling promises he believes the Magic Kingdom has temptingly held out to him.

“Thomas, I’m telling you the truth!” he says. “We’ll get jobs there, we’ll live there! Can’t you see it? We’ll be friends with all the Disney stars, man. Fess Parker, Hailey Mills, all of them. They’ll discover us, put us in movies, and we’ll be just as famous as them!” It’s a startling revelation; Thomas is nearly overcome thinking this is to be his destiny.

Once on the road, however, a new reality quickly sets in.

A stop along the way turns out to be a nightmarish outpost for criminals. Led by the infamous Short Brothers, the boys are held captive. When these sadistic siblings throw a party to end all parties, celebrating the worst of humanity, the truth of who Kent is is revealed. The party escalates into fiery explosions of alcohol, drugs, and violence.

Thomas is witness to an assault on a girl, about to turn into gang rape and murder. He must choose between siding with Kent or taking the hard road: the right thing to do.

The deepest friendship Thomas has ever had turns out to be the most difficult task he will ever undertake. This young boy’s race to escape an abusive world and find a place of innocence becomes a transforming passage, altering the trajectory of his life forever and redefining everything he ever thought he believed in. Based on a true story.

BOY WITH VISTA

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