He Ain’t Heavy

 

“You should’ve done something sooner.”

Harrowing, grieved and intense, He Ain’t Heavy is a hard hitting addiction drama about the tough love of a sister for her drug addled brother and the laborious lengths she is willing to go to get him sober, with emotionally exhausting performances that ache with humanity and pain amidst deep desire and care. 

Discussion Points:

What an emotionally heart-wrenching and gut-punching film. It’s the intensely real and grounded emotional performances from Leila George, Sam Corlett and Greta Scacchi that tower over the thin dialogue to deliver a genuinely compelling and exhausting addiction drama. For every cliche line, there’s a deeply felt pain expressed that sells every moment. David Vincent Smith’s feature length directorial debut feels very sturdy and familiar to viewers of low-budget Australian dramas. There’s no musical accompaniment, or fast-paced editing. It’s just good, solid, visual storytelling. The camera is anchored in one place to capture props that convey more than words could. Simple edits cut from glances to reactions to simply sell the very real drama on display. It’s a confident and assured debut, and one that benefits immensely from genuinely outstanding work from its leading trio. A film so full of pain, that left me teary-eyed more than once, and a strong contender for one of the best Australian films I’ve seen in the last few years. Rips your heart out, and reminds you why family is so important.