Alexei Laub

“The Black Balloon” is a confronting yet loveable film that follows a 15-year-old boy in his journey of growing up and acceptance in a prejudiced time and place. Thomas Mollison and his family have freshly moved into a Sydney suburb in the 1990’s. His brother, Charlie, is autistic and balances on a fine line between loving and resenting him. When his mother, Maggie, is put on bed rest due to her pregnancy and Simon, Thomas’s father, is busy working with the army, Charlie becomes Thomas’s responsibility. However, Thomas wants “nothing to do with him” as he navigates his way through high school, friendship, and romance. Rhys Wakefield does a wonderful job at portraying Thomas and all the intense emotions he feels, highlighted by close-up shots most of the time. One standout scene that makes use of a high angle shot is when Thomas cries in the bathroom and Maggie comforts him, saying that “it’s not fair, is it, mate?’ Accompanied with low key lighting, it makes a beautiful scene, and you can really feel how vulnerable and distraught Thomas feels. Thomas had a predictable character arc, as he learns to not just accept but embrace difference. However, I was quite surprised by Maggie’s character arc. Maggie learns that she had been putting too much pressure on Thomas to grow up and take on responsibility when he hasn’t learnt how to yet. When she comes to realize this, she becomes gentler towards Thomas. With Maggie’s character, Down showed how no matter how old or young you are, you still have time to change, and it was quite a refreshing thing to see. Furthermore, Gemma Ward portrays the character Jackie, Thomas’s love interest and friend. Although, I would say that she’s more of and idea than a character. Jackie is far too forward thinking and accepting for her time. It would be extremely rare to find anyone like her in the 90’s. However, Down perfectly encapsulated everything else about 1990’s Australian suburbia. From the clothing to the technology and the language – I felt as if I had been sent back in time. She also showed how deeply prejudiced and careless society was towards neurodivergent people, and still are today. Hearing ableist terms such as “spastic” being thrown around so thoughtlessly really made me empathise with the Mollison family. This 90’s Australian film will take any mature watcher who’s looking for a tad of nostalgia or loves family dramas through a whirlwind of emotions when they least expect it. “The Black Balloon” is a film worth watching twice.

This movie explored so many important issues, balancing it out with humour and horror so well. Richie's character is also so relatable and representative for pre-teens discovering their sexuality. reddie for life.