The United States of Leland (2003)

The United States of Leland is a 2003 American drama film written and directed by Matthew Ryan Hoge that follows a meek teenage boy, the eponymous Leland, who has inexplicably committed a shocking murder. In the wake of the killing, his teacher in prison tries to understand the senseless crime, while the families of the victim and the perpetrator struggle to cope with the aftermath.

Synopsis

The film begins with a flashback narrated by Leland P. Fitzgerald, describing how he couldn't remember the details of the day that he killed an intellectually disabled boy named Ryan Pollard. Leland is arrested. Ryan's parents, Harry and Karen, sisters Becky and Julie, as well as Julie's live-in boyfriend Allen grieve the loss of their loved one. Leland's divorced mother, Marybeth, is desperate to see her son, while his father, famous writer Albert Fitzgerald, discovers his son's fate in a newspaper and returns home to be there for the trial.

Actors