Zu, a free spirit estranged from her family, suddenly finds herself the sole guardian of her half-sister, Music, a teenager on the autism spectrum whose whole world order has been beautifully crafted by her late grandmother. The film soon challenges whether it is Zu or Music who has a better view of the world, and that love, trust, and being able to be there for each other is everything.
This movie contains 47 potentially triggering events.
Felix's father verbally abuses him on several occasions, which eventually escalates to physical abuse of both him and his mother that ends up killing Felix.
Yet again, the people who voted "yes" have no idea what gaslighting is. Gaslighting is an abuse tactic in which the abuser attempts to convince the victim that they are mentally unstable and incompetent. Regardless of how you feel about this film, there is no gaslighting in it.
Idk if she does but if people restrain autistic people the way the other characters restrain Music it could be very harmful to their physical health and even fatal.
I have autism and I almost had a seazure for how bad it was (but for real, the movie is potentially harmful to autistic people who have hypersensitivity)
I don't know why there is more no's than yeses. Felix's (an Asian kid) father chokes his mother then strikes Felix, knocking him into a table and killing him; blood is quickly seen. PS: I am actually autistic and I despised this movie so much all of my heart!
An autistic person is portrayed by a neurotypical actress, in a way that is reminiscent of children mocking someone with an intellectual disability. The 14yo actress is reported to have been hesitant (FWIW), but the writer/director insisted the portrayal was not problematic.
Not during the film, but Kazu is on probation and just got out of court-mandated rehab. She refers to this as "my brief stay with the state", indicating that there may have been some jail time involved.
The music video sequences are quite surrealist, depicting the emotional beats of the film via abstract dance sequences and bright-hued sets.
No character literally dissociates or is explicitly said to be dissociating, however. So if that specifically is a trigger, the film is safe.
In response to a meltdown, an autistic minor is forcibly restrained and pinned face down on the ground with an adult partially sitting on top of them. This is also known as the “prone” restraint and it is highly dangerous and can cause asphyxiation in the individual being restrained.
It should be noted that the autistic minor was not a danger to herself or others, only engaging in loud vocal stimming and lightly slapping herself. The adult caregivers’ FIRST response was to restrain her with zero attempts at non-violent de-escalation. The narrative does not seem to frame this as abuse (it is) but as a “normal” and necessary response to a meltdown.
You don't even have to watch the movie to see this, the trailer is full of very triggering flashing lights and very fast changes/movements. Absolutely not accessible.
Felix is seen quietly following and watching Music as she goes about her daily walk, peeking at her through the bookshelves in the library. It's never really made known whether or not Music is aware of this or how she feels about it.
This whole movie is ableist because it perpetuates the fact that autistic people are broken or need to be cured. The main autistic character is played by a neurotypical actress, there are scenes infantilising Music and physically restraining her during meltdown. Sia also partnered with an autistic hate group to make this movie (Autism Speaks).
Even ignoring the infamous advocacy of restraint, this movie is just plain not good at depicting autism as Music is infantilized to hell and back, and has little to no agency as a character. And autistic people are not even the only victim of this either as black people and people with addiction are also misinterpret
Religious themes and motifs occasionally pop up, but it's never discussed in-depth. In "Beautiful Things Can Happen", Ebo is seen rising out of what first appears to be a coffin but is revealed to be an oversized bible. The lyrics to the same song also reference hell.
The grandmother dies of a stroke at the beginning of the film. Before she collapses, we see one side of her face droop, which is a classic stroke symptom. Her death is quick and seems relatively peaceful, though.
A brief one of the Radgicals TV show host (played by comedian Tig Notaro), showing a clip of the show where she meets the Encourager creature and they have an awkward interaction.