Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old screenwriter, has dealt with addiction and homelessness over the years.
Now, he has been arrested after the deaths of his parents.
Meanwhile, resurfaced interviews with Rob and Nick Reiner have cast new light on their relationship.
A ”very loud argument”
Rob Reiner, his wife Michele, and their son Nick were at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party on Saturday night. According to Reiner family sources who spoke to TMZ, Rob and Nick got into a “very loud argument” during the event — so loud that many other guests could hear it.
Rob and Michele were then found dead on Sunday, December 14, inside their abode in Brentwood, California. According to The Mirror, authorities described the scene as a “horror double murder” involving what appeared to be stab wounds.
Reiner was 78, Michele was 68.
Now, Nick Reiner has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the deaths of his parents, according to the Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell. Jail records first indicated his bail was set at $4 million, but authorities later ordered that Nick Reiner be held without bail.
Authorities have not released any information about a possible motive for the killings. But as more details have emerged and police have identified a suspect, public attention has increasingly turned to Nick’s relationship with the rest of his family, with fans revisiting past dynamics in search of context.
Made a movie together
Years before the current tragedy, Rob and Nick Reiner had publicly explored their complicated father-son relationship through film.
In 2015, the two collaborated on Being Charlie, a semi-autobiographical movie inspired by their family’s real-life struggle with addiction. Nick co-wrote the script with a friend he met in rehab, drawing directly from his own experiences as an addict, while Rob directed the project.
The film stars Cary Elwes as the father figure modeled after Rob, with Nick Robinson playing a character inspired by Nick. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015, Being Charlie follows Charlie Mills, an 18-year-old battling addiction while clashing with his famous father, David, a movie star running for Congress.
Much like the Reiners’ own story, the character resents what he sees as his parents’ rigid, rehab-focused approach to his recovery.
The movie’s final moments are especially poignant. The father apologizes for how he handled his son’s addiction, while still affirming his love. Charlie responds by saying he doesn’t “hate” his dad, embraces him, and quietly says, “take good care” before walking away.
Homelessness and rehab
That on-screen apology mirrored real life. Nick spent years moving between rehab centers and also faced periods of homelessness during his teenage years.
“When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen,” Rob told the Los Angeles Times during a family dinner that included Nick.
“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.”
Michele Singer Reiner echoed that sentiment, adding: “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.”
At the time, Nick said he was sober.
Rob and Nick went on to do multiple interviews together, offering a rare and candid look at their relationship and the emotional process of making the film. Speaking on Paul Mecurio’s podcast 2 Chairs and a Microphone in 2016, Rob admitted that working together wasn’t always easy.
“We hashed everything out — sometimes it became fights and other things… we hashed it out,” he said.
The advice his father gave him
Nick recalled a piece of advice his father gave him on set: “‘There’s one person on the set that has to make the final decision whether it’s right or wrong… and that’s the director.’ After I heard that, I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll do what he wants me to do… but ultimately what gets into the movie is what gets into the movie.’”
Rob later acknowledged that despite his decades of experience, he often deferred to his son.
“There were times where Nick would fight for certain types of things, my first instinct is, ‘I have a lot more experience,’” Rob explained. “But then I realized… I don’t have a lot more experience on this particular subject — what the young guy is going through.” He ultimately called Nick the “heart and soul” of the film.
Nick, for his part, shared what he learned about his father along the way.
“He has sometimes a hard time expressing himself through conversation,” Nick said. “But he listens. He’s a great dad. He’s best at explaining himself when he’s in his element making a movie — showing how much he cares through that way.”
Following a screening Q&A, Rob described Being Charlie as “cathartic” and “therapeutic,” even though that hadn’t been the original goal.
“But it turned out to be that,” he said, admitting that their disagreements were “at times… really rough.” Nick added, “Sometimes it would get overwhelming for me. Sometimes it didn’t feel like a movie — it felt like it was turning into more of something.”
Michele’s heartbreaking confession
In a separate 2018 appearance on the Dopey podcast, Nick spoke candidly about a dark period during his addiction, recalling destructive behavior while staying in his parents’ guest house.
“I went 10 rounds in my guest house,” he said. “I got totally spun out on uppers — I think it was coke and something else — and I was up for days on end… Everything in the guest house got wrecked. I literally punched the TV.”
Taken together, the interviews and the film itself offered a deeply personal portrait of a family trying — imperfectly, publicly, and with love — to navigate addiction, parenthood, and forgiveness.
Tragically, something went terribly wrong over the weekend. As previously reported, TMZ was the first outlet to reveal the recent argument between Rob and Nick.
According to sources close to the family, Michele had confided in friends in recent months that she and Rob were emotionally exhausted and deeply distressed over Nick’s mental health struggles and his alleged substance abuse. Those same sources said the couple felt completely out of options when it came to helping their son, with Michele reportedly telling friends, “We’ve tried everything.”
READ MORE
- Trump slammed for mocking Rob Reiner and wife with ‘disgusting’ words
- Rob Reiner’s cryptic message in final interview with CNN
