I thought this was a metaphor for anxiety or autism and fear of social stigma relating to qwerks that others prefer to judge making an individual feel inferior and depressed entering a dark and scary mental space.
That these feelings overcome the boy who has just experienced the loss of his father and directly affect the grieving widow that is his single mother. Nobody supports her and her struggles with her son, her finance and the social exclusion is burdensome for her. The weight of a single mother who has a child with ‘extra’ needs so to speak. It’s a fantastic film and there’s so many interpretations.