Directed By Jon Gunn

Starring – Zachary Levi, Meghann Fahy, Jacob Laval

The Plot – When Scott (Levi) and Teresa (Fahy) learn that their son, Austin (Laval), is autistic and has brittle bone disease, they initially worry about his future. However, with Scott’s growing faith and Austin’s incredible spirit, they become unbreakable as they find joy, gratitude and courage in the most trying times.

Rated PG for strong thematic material, alcohol abuse, adult language and some violence

‘The Unbreakable Boy’ official trailer

POSITIVES

Despite some more than questionable decision making with adapting this true story based on the book of the same name, the film does at least have its heart in the right place, and there’s no more evident aspect of this perception than the religious incorporation to the film that I honestly wasn’t expecting from its trailers. Typically whenever religion is shoe-horned in as a crutch for a character’s transformation, it leaves me groaning from the passive aggressive approach that it typically takes on towards non-believers, and while Scott’s growth happens mere minutes after finding God, with a music montage to boot, it never feels meanspirited or promoted by shameless propaganda, instead supplanting an honorable message of rehabilitative forgiveness and appreciation for the daily gifts that so many of us often take for granted. On top of this, the performances are a mixed bag, but I found the work of Fahy and Laval to be enrichingly endearing, primarily towards conveying a semblance of authenticity that so much of the movie was otherwise missing. Jacob undoubtedly has the biggest responsibility towards articulating autism, especially considering he doesn’t have the condition in real-life, however Laval’s execution can definitely be described as tastefully conscious, not only with the infectious energy that he elicits towards the character’s dramatically-charged moments, but also the uniqueness of his speech patterns, which convey subtle differences without the need to demean, and as a result the film received a much-needed shot of adrenaline each time he invaded the screen. As for Meghann Fahy, there’s a gentle sensitivity to her portrayal that effortlessly elicits this nurturing glow to scenes surrounded by her on-screen children, and though she’s typically second fiddle to Levi’s Scott, with regards to direction and development, Fahy’s fine blend of vulnerability for her own condition and resiliency in keeping this household together, made me wish the script spent more time on her particular vantage point, especially since she values nuance in ways that her on-screen cohort can’t even begin to attempt.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends, as “The Unbreakable Boy” is a creatively predictable, unfocused and strangely surreal encompassing of autistic awareness, made worse by an emotionally manipulative screenplay and shallow score that try so forcefully to get the tear ducts flowing, and failing miserably at it. I found it difficult to ever take the material seriously as a result of the conscientious effort that the script makes towards deviating away from Austin, and instead focusing almost entirely on Scott, who is undoubtedly my single least favorite protagonist of 2025. I say this because despite the established alcoholism of the character, his single most defining moments of uncompassionate dialogue and careless remorselessness comes when hasn’t consumed a single drop, and somehow by the film’s ending the audience are asked forcefully to embrace and invest in his need to do better for his family, ya know, thirteen years after he married Teresa. When I see a film depicting Autism, I want to learn more about the condition, so it’s concerning that the script is more preoccupied with how Austin’s condition affects Scott, instead of tapping into the everyday realities of someone embattled in it, almost as a means of justifying the erratic behavior from the elder, which becomes glaringly uncomfortable by the film’s ten minute point when every bone-breaking incident for Austin happens under his careless watch. On top of this, the script makes another questionable decision in supplying Scott with an imaginary friend who not only is never given any kind uncovered psychological logic for his constant appearances, but also painfully distracts and detracts away from the film’s most dramatically endearing scenes with comedic enveloping that is the most desperate kinds of quirky cute that the Hallmark Channel could possibly summon. The motivation for this decision certainly comes with the movie tying itself so faithfully to the real-life book and the author’s story, but it’s a primary example of why some unnecessary elements don’t exactly translate well to a screen adaptation, as the lack of insight towards Scott’s own psychology for why he sees and talks to a grown bearded man at middle-age proves a lack of depth with the material that essentially makes it feel superfluous when it’s not breaking logic by the implanting influence surrounding his presence that truly doesn’t make sense for someone perceived to be imaginary. Such examples pertain to bike tire treads splashing through water and creating tread marks on the sidewalks, or the imaginary friend’s shadow being seen anytime a scene is set outside, and though they’re all harmless examples of cute framing device meant to make the audience smile in between overtly dramatic moments that become tensely uncomfortable, they’re a fine example of the many unforeseen elements of this story that take away from the primary focus and advertised matter of a little boy learning to live with being different, to which so little of this foundation is properly set on. As for the dramatic elements, I previously mentioned so much of the material being emotionally manipulative, and that’s because the production reaches so heavily towards volume-swelling compositions that feel about as original as a Wilhelm scream during a horror movie. These instrumentals convey how worthless the dialogue in the movie truly is, as the music constantly spoon-feeds us how to feel during each scene before the ensemble of actors ever has a chance to, and if not for the awkwardly uncomfortable way the script continuously frames Austin’s many bone-breaks as means for laughter alongside expressive visuals and on-screen text, would be the single most annoying thing about the entire experience, perhaps as a need to get ahead of Zachary Levi, who is downright detestable as Scott. Like the need to incorporate everything about the original author’s story, I too realize that Scott is supposed to be a selflessly irredeemable character, at least before he finds God, however Levi’s demeanor during scenes of compassionate warmth and resolution lack a single shred of emotional commitment and believability that at least articulates how deeply he cares for his children, and as to where Fahy’s approach to grasping onto control of a very difficult situation simultaneously attained empathy and believability in the things she says to her children, Levi simply doesn’t know how to convey internal struggle or heartfelt affection with his eyes, and the scenes involving physical embrace during psychological conflict come across as coldly callous and at best bland for the depiction, proving Zachary to be entirely wrong for the role, not just because of how drastically different he looks from the original author.

OVERALL
“The Unbreakable Boy” isn’t half as resilient as its title suggests. It’s another gigantic missed opportunity to tap into the realities of Autism, instead opting for the insensitive and tone-deaf approach of a disconnected alcoholic father, whose narrative wastes away the opportunity and magnetic allure of Meghann Fahy and Jacob Laval’s meaningful performances stitching some semblance of heart where this film so desperately needs it, leaving it broken by impropriety that left it sitting on the shelf for three whole years after its completion.

My Grade: 4.2 or D-