EXCLUSIVE: Radar Watched Rob Reiner's Former Junkie Son's Now-Viral Movie on His Drug Addiction — So You Don't Have To — As He's Arrested Over Parents' Knife Murders
Rob Reiner and his son, Nick, worked on a film together before the director's stabbing death.
Dec. 15 2025, Published 1:55 p.m. ET
Rob Reiner's 2015 addiction drama Being Charlie has resurfaced as police have arrested the iconic director's son, Nick, over the knife killings of his parents, a decade after the critically panned film laid bare the family’s deepest tensions.
And RadarOnline.com has watched the now-viral turkey of a drama – which got a paltry 24 percent on Rotten Tomatoes – so you don't have to.
A Film Resurfaces Amid Murder Probe
Rob Reiner worked on 'Being Charlie' with his son, Nick, in 2015.
As we reported, Rob, 78, and his wife, Michele, 68, were found dead in a bloodbath at their Brentwood home on Sunday, with law enforcement treating the case as a homicide.
After authorities "quizzed" Nick over the double murder, with law enforcement sources describing him as a "person of interest" in the case, he was arrested soon after.
The renewed scrutiny has drawn attention to Being Charlie, a semi-autobiographical film co-written by Nick and directed by Rob, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 and chronicled a family struggling with a son’s addiction.
Rob and Michele Reiner spoke openly about addiction during the film’s release.
Nick Reiner helped write the semi-autobiographical drama.
The film, starring Carey Elwes as a stand-in for Rob as David, and Nick Robinson as his troubled son Charlie, received poor reviews, with the movie review aggregator's summary of the flick saying the film had "wonderful intentions" but was overwhelmed by clichés.
The site adds: "Being Charlie has wonderful intentions and a strong central performance, but an affecting true story gets lost in the script's surfeit of clichés."
We can reveal after viewing the film – available on YouTube – its only value now lies less in its craft than in its candor. The story follows an 18-year-old addict resentful of repeated stints in rehab imposed by his parents, a dynamic the family acknowledged mirrored real life.
Rob Reiner Spoke On His Son's Addiction Before Death
Critics originally panned the movie despite its personal subject matter.
Speaking at a dinner during the film's festival run, Rob said about experts' advice on his son's drug addiction: "When Nick would tell us that it wasn't working for him, we wouldn't listen. We were desperate, and because the people had diplomas on their wall, we listened to them when we should have been listening to our son."
His wife, Michele, added about the medics: "We were so influenced by these people. They would tell us he's a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them."
Nick, then newly sober, said at the dinner he got clean because, "I got sick of it. I got sick of doing that s---."
He added: "I come from a nice family. I'm not supposed to be out there on the streets and in homeless shelters doing all these f------up things."
In a post-screening Q&A, the A Few Good Men director added: "We didn't set out for it to be cathartic or for it to be therapeutic, but it turned out to be that."
He acknowledged "there were disagreements" and that "at times it was really rough" during production. Nick added, "Sometimes it would get overwhelming for me."
A Chilling Legacy After the Killings
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The story took on a darker meaning after the Reiners’ deaths.
The film ends not with resolution but a fragile truce, reflecting what one critic described as "two warring agendas" between a father seeking closure and a son warning that recovery is ongoing.
Rob later said his relationship with Nick had improved by the time filming began. "To be honest, by the time we got to the point of making the movie... our relationship had gotten so much closer," he said at the time, while Nick admitted: "I really wasn't sure I wanted to do this."
Since the brutal murders of the Reiners, Being Charlie has circulated widely online, with viewers debating parental responsibility and addiction. But its scenes of confrontation now feel chilling rather than therapeutic amid reports Nick is being eyed for the killings of his parents.
At best, the film stands as an unsettling record of a family trying, and struggling, to understand itself.
One scene in which the Charlie character of the movie angrily confronts his father at his family home is painful to watch. Sources say if Nick is charged with his parents' murders, YouTube is likely to strip it from the platform.
This is the dialogue that closes out the film:
David: "Charlie, I know you're angry at me and probably don't want to hear this right now, but I do love you. I'm sorry. Every expert with a desk and a diploma told me I had to be tough at you, but every time we sent you away to another one of those programs, I saw you slipping away from us. And all I could tell myself is that I'd rather have you alive and hating me than dead on the streets. So what do you want me to do? Tell me what to do."
Charlie: "You don't have to do anything."
David: "You want to come up to Sacramento? Get away from all the... ."
David: "... what, the drugs? It was never about the drugs. All I ever wanted was a way to kill the noise. But the more I used the louder it got."
David: "I was part of the noise, wasn't I?"
Charlie motions a "little bit" sign.
David: "So what are you going to do?"
Charlie: "I don't know. I'll figure it out. I don't hate you."
David: "I know."
When the pair hug, Charlie turns to walk out the door, and David says, "You take good care of yourself."
