The tragic events surrounding the Reiner family have sent shockwaves through Hollywood, yet they resonate with a broader human narrative: a family ensnared by the turmoil of addiction and unresolved familial discord. This particular story, however, took a harrowing turn with devastating consequences.

Nick Reiner, aged 32, is now facing charges for the brutal murders of his parents, the iconic actor and director Rob Reiner, and his mother, Michele. This news has left both the entertainment industry and the public reeling in disbelief.

According to exclusive reports obtained by the Daily Mail, law enforcement officials suggest that Nick may have awaited the moment his parents drifted into slumber, before committing the unthinkable act of stabbing and slitting their throats as they lay defenseless in bed. The chilling act seems to be laden with symbolism, as if aimed at silencing them forever.

This heartbreaking incident serves as a grim reminder of the destructive power of addiction and unresolved familial issues, themes that, while deeply personal, are all too familiar in many households across the globe.

The symbolism is unmistakable: He was shutting them up, permanently.

The collective reaction, in Hollywood and beyond, is shock and heartbreak.

By all accounts, Rob and Michele were devoted parents who had tried everything to help their son — the only maladjusted one of four otherwise stable, loving siblings.

One close family friend, however, says that Nick and his issues poisoned the family dynamic.

Nick Reiner, 32, will be charged for the savage slayings of his father, legendary actor and director Rob, and his mother Michele.

As the Daily Mail exclusively reported, police sources say it appears Nick may have waited until his parents fell asleep before stabbing them to death and slitting both their throatsas they lay in bed.

‘This may not speak well of Rob, but I think he and Michele babied him too much, gave in too much,’ said the close friend, who has known Nick his entire life.

‘They had no control over him — when he was young, or when he got older.’

On one occasion, the friend witnessed an 11-year-old Nick having a physical rage explosion and Rob restraining him.

‘He was throwing the biggest tantrum, and Reiner just had him in a bear hug to restrain him. The tantrum was over nothing, but he had so much anger in his eyes. It was terrifying really. And this happened a lot, and he never outgrew it. He had tantrums in his 20s,’ the friend said.

Nick was violent well before he allegedly slaughtered his parents. He admitted in 2018 that he had once destroyed their guest house while on cocaine. And he was found by cops, after the murders, near a Santa Monica hotel, his room slathered in blood — the shower, the bed, everywhere.

It was Nick’s sister Romy who reportedly told the police she thought her brother had done it.

The family friend said that Nick’s brother and two sisters suffered greatly because Nick took most of their parents’ attention — a common dynamic when one child is troubled or addicted.

‘The other siblings resented him because who got the most attention? Nick. Who took all their energy? Nick. And who did they baby the most? Nick. Rob was very much a “stand on your own” type of father – except when it came to Nick. He saw him as having an illness, a sickness, and babied him because of it.’

What sets this case apart is the uniquely Hollywood approach taken to placate Nick — allowing a family employee to write a book, titled ‘Little Nicky’, about how troublesome he was.

Rob later directed and produced a movie, ‘Being Charlie’, co-written by Nick and based on his specific problems.

Were these projects a form of parental penance or punishment? Or were they simply the only ways a lifelong filmmaker — himself the son of Carl Reiner, a very famous comedian — knew how to process complicated emotions?

Perhaps it was a combination of all three. And here is where the road splits between the average American family dealing with a mentally unstable child and a dynastic Hollywood one.

Because only the Hollywood family would consider making a movie about their internal struggles, going so public, as normal.

That dynamic extended to on-set fights, open and brutal, between Nick and his father.

‘I just assumed, whether this is correct or not, this kid must be pushing all his buttons. Rob can’t do anything right,’ stuntman Eric Aude said.

‘He’s a nepo-baby, a spoiled kid to a T. Obviously [Rob] loved his son because he’s doing this movie for his son and, still, his son was unappreciative.’

Perhaps that was the issue: Nick was only ever going to be ‘the son of’.

And perhaps it was never more clear than on an actual film set, working with his award-winning, incredibly gifted father, that he would never measure up — in the industry or elsewhere.

It’s an interesting discussion happening culturally right now, the perils of being born into a famous family.

George Clooney, in his new film ‘Jay Kelly,’ stars as an aging Hollywood mega-star who doesn’t understand why his daughters don’t want to spend time with him — even as they tell him, repeatedly, that he was never around for them at the height of his fame, too preoccupied with the next movie or celebrity girlfriend or global press tour or awards ceremony.

‘Sentimental Value’, starring Stellan Skarsgard, covers similar terrain. Skarsgard, in real life, is the father of two sons, Bill and Alexander, who followed him into acting. Here, he plays a famous father full of benign neglect and narcissism.

One of Brad Pitt’s sons, reportedly, to Pitt during an argument: ‘I’m not one of your FANS!’

Ben Stiller, himself the son of famous parents – comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara – speaks about competing for his father’s attention as a child, and how he and his sister Amy were left alone with the nanny for weeks.

This is all memorialized in a new documentary, ‘Stiller & Meara’, in which Ben admits that, for his father, the love and attention from fans meant more than the love and attention of his own children.

Yet in the doc, Ben’s own children tell him the same thing.

‘I literally can’t ever remember you being around when I was growing up,’ his 23-year-old daughter Ella says.

When Gene Hackman and his wife died, their bodies went undiscovered for days. And that was because all of Hackman’s adult children had nothing to do with him.

Nor were they in Hackman’s will. His reported $80 million estate remains in limbo.

Cher has an adult son, Elijah, who is openly addicted to drugs and roaming around Hollywood.

James Brolin’s youngest son, Jess, has — as Nick Reiner was multiple times — been homeless and broke.

Cindy Crawford’s son Presley Gerber, 26, has taken to posting on Instagram about his deep depression and drug use, practically begging for help.

There’s an interesting discussion happening culturally right now, the perils of being born into a famous family.

In the case of Nick Reiner, family friends say that Rob and Michele tried everything: tough love, family therapy, coddling.

On the set of ‘Being Charlie’, Rob would reportedly kiss his adult son on the lips.

Rob and Michele took Nick to Conan O’Brien’s holiday party — hours before their deaths — because they were ‘scared’ of what Nick might do if left home alone.

Home, where this 32-year-old was still living with his parents.

And he was a horror at that party, too.

‘Nick was freaking everyone out,’ a source told People magazine. ‘[He was] acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous.’

Asking people if they were famous. That is, after all, the only currency of value in this industry.

Is it any wonder so many children of Hollywood suffer? Is it any wonder that so many wind up estranged from their parents?

This is in no way to blame Rob and Michele Reiner for what happened to them. They were obviously loving parents and a beloved couple.

And Nick was reportedly refusing to go to rehab — for what would have been the 19th time.

But it must be said: there is an insidious, specific kind of psychological torture that children of the famous often suffer — the painful realization that the love and adulation of strangers means more to their parents, and always will.

And if these children lack similar or superior talent — more often the case than not — they’ll inevitably feel that they have no sense of worth. And certainly no chance of being seen, of being recognized, in the world.

It’s a poor substitute for being recognized at home, but at least it would be something.