By Becca Johnson - February 21, 2025
Last year, Jon Gunn directed Ordinary Angels, a moving drama based on a true story surrounding a good deed by a local hairdresser to help a widowed father receive treatment for hiss critically ill daughter. This year, Gunn helms The Unbreakable Boy, a captivating story of a mother and fathers difficult journey to create a good life for their son. When Scott (Zachary Levi) and Teresa (Megan Fahy) learn that Austin (Jacob Laval) is both autistic and has brittle bone disease, they initially worry for their sons future. But with Scott’s growing faith and Austin’s incredible spirit, they become unbreakable, finding joy, gratitude and courage even in the most trying times.
Well-acted with much emotion and heart at its core, The Unbreakable Boy tells an inspiring and poignant story, even if it loses sight of its most important element along the way.
Front and centre of our story is Austin, played fantastically by Jacob Laval (8-bit Christmas), who received the pleasure of meeting the real Austin whilst in production. Austin is the heart and soul of the movie, whose cheeky personality and proclivity for living life to the full injects much charm and humor. Though he often struggles with school and home life due to his autism, and isn’t able to do what other kids do due to the risk of breaking his bones, he is a hopeful individual who rarely lets it get the better of him, and Laval portrays this beautifully.
In the role of dad Scott is Zachary Levi (Shazam!), who not only plays a pivotal role in Austin’s life but has many struggles of his own, including alcoholism. Levi does a really good job portraying a troubled father who struggles to connect with his child, and puts a lot of raw emotion into his turn. Charming and fun when he needs to be, and equally soft and sad when the script requires it of him, he shows a lot of range and is good at showcasing the relatable elements of fatherhood. Starring opposite is Megan Fahy (The White Lotus), who perhaps gives the best performance of the movie as Mum Teresa. Passing the brittle bone disease down to her son, Teresa is overcome by guilt, and Fahy has such a nuanced way of showing this, even when the dialogue isn’t focussed here. Having great chemistry inside a believable and realistic romance with Scott, the pair work well both together and separately. Fahy is tasked with the more emotional sequences, including a gut-wrenching scene after dropping her son off to a psychiatric facility, and she pulls it off perfectly.
Based on the autobiography written by Scott himself, The Unbreakable Boy doesn’t shy away from showing the bad with the good. Not only does this set it apart from other stories of this ilk due to it feeling so real and raw, but it ensures we get a full picture, with every character developed. Austin’s autism is at the centre of the movie, and Austin narrates the story to the audience, but we also get to learn about Teresa and Scott’s meet-cute, Teresa’s brittle bone disease and how that affected her growing up, the financial struggles the pair entail due to multiple broken bones and medical bills, younger brother Logan’s troubles at school, Scott’s alcoholism that leads to relationship breakdown with Teresa, Scott’s imaginary friend Joe that follows him into adulthood and much, much more. This allows for a very meaty film that gives us a lot to chew on, and every plot point is well developed with emotion and pay-off.
On the flip-side, the script is a little unbalanced in the way it presents these threads. The final act chooses to focus on Scott’s alcoholism over anything else, which whilst explored well, takes focus away from where it should be - Austin. Not only does most of the movies passion and flair come from him and Laval’s performance, but he is the titular character and the most interesting of the bunch. It takes too long focussing on Scott at times, forgetting what’s important in the process.
The Unbreakable Boy does exactly what it says on the tin; provides an uplifting, hopeful and emotional story about a remarkable individual who is definitely worth us knowing about. The representation is good, and the overall message regarding redemption, forgiveness, and seeing the good in people and everyday life is developed beautifully. The performances are strong, with the entire cast delivering believable emotion from start to finish. It’s a little cliched in its storytelling, follows familiar beats and is predictable, and it also focusses too much of it’s energy on the stories surrounding Austin rather than Austin himself, but for a feel-good film with a positive message, it’s undeniably worth checking out.
Out now in cinemas
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