THE BLACK BALLOON

Year: 2008
USA: NeoClassics Films
UK DVD: Icon Home Entertainment
Cast: Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Gemma Ward, Erik Thomson, Toni Collette, Lloyd Allison-Young, Nathin Butler, Lisa Kowalski, Firass Dirani, Aaron Glennane, Andy Meritakis
Henry Nixon
Director: Elissa Down
Countries: Australia / UK
USA & UK: 97 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for some sexual content, a scene of violence, and brief strong language
UK Certificate: 15
USA Release Date: 5 December 2008 (Limited Release - New York and Los Angeles)
UK DVD Release Date: 2 February 2009

Synopsis

THE BLACK BALLOON, directed by Elissa Down (SUMMER ANGST) and from a screenplay by Elissa Down and Jimmy Jack, is a story about fitting in, discovering love and accepting your family.

Thomas Mollison (Rhys Wakefield) and his family move to a new home, which involves not only starting at a strange, new school, but also having to make new friends and last but not least the challenge of trying to fit in to this new life.

Meanwhile his pregnant mother, Maggie (Toni Collette) needs to rest more, so his dad (Erik Thomson) reorganises household responsibilities and gives Thomas the difficult task of looking after Charlie (Luke Ford), his older brother who is autistic.

With the help of his new girlfriend Jackie (Gemma Ward), Thomas has a challenging time ahead of him coping with Charlie's unusual antics. It's Charlie's irrational behaviour that brings Thomas' pent-up frustrations about his brother to an emotional climax and so unfolds a funny, yet confrontational and ultimately heart-warming story.