True/False 2024: This is Going to be Big makes the world suck less

Courtesy of the True/False Film Festival

The True/False Film Festival is currently running in Columbia, MO. The nationally renowned event brings together many of the year’s most important upcoming documentaries and our film editor Abby Olcese is sharing highlights. Read this year’s other coverage here as it goes live. 

I have a personal pantheon of movies I watch to remind myself the world isn’t all bad.

Paddington reminds me that everyday kindness is easy and rewarding. The Mole Agent reminds me how people respond to simple acts of compassion. To paraphrase Nicole Kidman, these stories are perfect and powerful, and their heroes feel like the best parts of us. 

As of 2024, there’s a new one I’m adding to the list: This is Going to be Big, an utterly charming and moving documentary about students putting on a musical at an Australian school for neurodivergent and physically disabled kids. Thomas Charles Hyland’s film is a quirky, funny and heartwarming slice of heaven that’ll wring every cynical toxin out of your body.

The specialized school in Bullengarook, Australia where Hyland shoots the film puts on a show once every two years. This year, the teachers (a trio of stunningly kind and patient people with boundless enthusiasm for their jobs) have created a musical about Australian singer John Farnham. Farnham is probably best known outside his native country for the theme song from Rad and “You’re the Voice,” the song from this scene in Hot Rod. But, at least in Bullengarook, he’s an icon.

Hyland follows four kids who get parts in the show. Halle and Josh, who play Farnham at different points in his career, both have autism. Chelsea, who plays a lead in the show and has charisma to spare, lives with the effects of a traumatic brain injury she suffered in a car accident as a young child. Elyse, a sweet soul in the chorus, has anxiety and occasionally suffers from seizures. All of them are stoked to have roles and throw themselves into rehearsals. For Halle, it’s also a chance to find closure after the passing of her beloved aunt, who loved “You’re the Voice.”

Hyland’s gently observational camera follows the preparation process, but is more interested in how these kids interact with each other, their teachers and family outside of the production. We watch Elyse play with grasshoppers and talk at length about their strength and fragility. Josh shows off his encyclopedic knowledge of aircraft as he and his mom watch planes fly over their house. Chelsea has crackerjack comedic timing and strong teen girl opinions that make each of her scenes unpredictably funny. 

At no point does the film other these kids, or make them seem anything less than teenagers with high hopes and big emotions. They’re loved for exactly who they are. The choices Hyland makes help us get quickly invested in the subjects and the success of their show. Any touchy-feely or inspirational moments in This is Going to be Big are come by honestly. Very little of it feels engineered to drum up emotion, which of course makes the emotional beats hit even harder.

This is Going to be Big takes a small story and makes it seem like the most important thing in existence which, to these kids, is exactly how they feel. In a world where we’re asked to care about so many big, awful things that are heartbreaking to the point of overwhelm, it’s profoundly lovely to spend time in a space where this is the only story that matters, one that may have some sad moments, but will ultimately end in triumph.

That it ends that way is largely the work of dedicated teachers and family members who give their all to make sure Halle, Josh, Chelsea, Elyse and their classmates feel capable and included. Knowing there are people in the world like that makes the world seem a little brighter.