⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (out of 5)
Australian independent dramas have a reputation for ripping your heart out of your chest and stomping on it in the dust whilst punching you in the face and kicking you in the guts. Sometimes, wave after wave of heartbreak is just too overwhelming. However, director David Vincent Smith’s debut feature manages to navigate both the crushing emotional blows found in many addiction dramas whilst providing hope in the face of incredible hardship by focusing on the deeply human love of family.
He Ain’t Heavy follows Jade (Leila George), the older sister of Max (Sam Corbett) and daughter of Bev (played by George’s real-life mother Greta Scacchi). Max is a meth addict living on the streets whose violent episodes have left Jade and Bev living in fear. When a particular explosive episode leaves Bev’s car crashed and causes her to have a near heart attack, Jade finally decides she’s had enough. Having felt bound to look after her younger brother whilst her peers have progressed with their lives, she finds Max in a crack den lures him to their recently deceased grandmother's house under the pretence of getting his assistance to clean out the home and offers him fast food laced with sleeping pills. Having set up a room with a nanny cam and basic amenities, Max awakes a prisoner in his sister's makeshift detox rehab in her final attempt to get him clean and sober so she can move on with her own life and hopefully save his.
What follows is an emotionally heart-wrenching and gut-punching film. Absolutely buoyed by the intensely real and grounded emotional performances of Leila George, Sam Corlett and Greta Scacchi. Their work towers over the thin dialogue to deliver a compelling and exhausting addiction drama. For every cliche line, there’s a deeply felt pain expressed that sells every moment. With no musical accompaniment, or fast-paced editing, viewers are left to sit in the silent sorrow or explosive arguments. George and Scacchi leverage their real-world mother-daughter relationship to depict a mother's deep care for her child. However, Corlett is outstanding in capturing the fractures that can develop and the profoundly physical role of capturing the detox and rehab process with heartbreaking truth.
David Vincent Smith delivers a confident and assured debut that benefits immensely from the genuinely outstanding work of its leading trio. The film is so full of pain that it will leave audiences teary-eyed more than once, and it is a strong contender for one of the best Australian films to be released in the last few years.
Reel Dialogue: Justice and Mercy – Pain and Pleasure
He Ain’t Heavy deals with the weighty subject matter of addiction and substance abuse. As Jade cares for her brother Max and tries to get him clean and sober, she is frequently wracked with sorrow at the state that he is in. Despite his myriads of meth-fuelled mistakes, she continues to show him mercy, albeit clothed in tough love, as she helps him detox. But Max also has a warrant out for his arrest after a drug-addled assault left a man in a coma. When asked by his sister why he kept taking the drugs that ruined his life – he responds, “because it felt good.” And as his pain increased, the drugs he took to feel pleasure became more and more addictive.
This raises many questions – What is the line between justice and mercy? At what point does the pursuit of our personal pleasure begin to cause others pain and infringe on their pleasure? When should mistakes be overlooked, forgiven and the record scrubbed clean and when do consequences and penalties need to be enforced? The Bible makes it clear that we are guilty of sin against God, and that not everything that brings us pleasure is actually good for us. The Bible teaches that the best way to live is in accordance with God’s will – for Him and with Him. A life lived for Him brings true pleasure. And it is because He loves us and shows mercy to us that He sent His son Jesus to die for us in our place, taking the punishment we deserve, so our record may be expunged and our relationship restored to be with Him.
Do you still look for pleasure in earthly things that will fade? Do you feel the weight of your mistakes? Have you met Jesus – who grants eternal joy and removes our sin and shame?
