Starring: Owen Scheid, Hannah Black, Megan Petersen, Drew Scheid
Runtime: 84 mins. Reviewed in Nov 2022
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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In a small, southern, drought-ridden town in 1993, Sam, trying to find a better life for her brother Carl who is on the Autism spectrum and fascinated by weather, steals an ice-cream truck to go storm chasing.
This family drama, humanitarian film focuses on autism and men and women on the spectrum. The central character, Carl, is autistic, one of those savants with a specialisation, this time the weather and his desire to chase a brewing storm. He is played by Owen Scheid, his first film role. Scheid is autistic himself and there are a number of interviews available with him about what it meant for him and his own experience on the spectrum and portraying it on screen.
The film is brief, and initial introduction to the family, an unsympathetic mother and father, a sister who is concerned about her brother. They both work in local supermarket but, Carl with his exact interpretation and literal interpretation of everything, falls foul of a woman who refuses to return her supermarket trolley. He struggles, she falls, and he is fired.
In the meantime, an older sister who has left the town long since, is urged to return by their mother to keep an eye on the family. Then this becomes a road film, Carl and his sisters in a former ice cream van, and a friend of Carl’s, Lewis (played by Scheid’s actual brother, Drew Scheid), rather carefree, along for the ride.
A lot of the drama is the interactions, especially between the two sisters. There is also Carl’s intensity about finding the storm, the demands of continuing, the repercussions of stopping on the way, some complications at a motel. Ultimately, it might seem that Carl is made a mistake about the storm – but, eventually is proven right.
The film was made in North Carolina, on a small budget, some crowdfunding by locals, and the film written and codirected by Black and Peterson who play the sisters.
“I think their decision to cast an autistic person was really important to get good representation in the film,” Owen says. “I think being in the role and being involved I brought some authenticity to the part. Initially going in I really wasn’t open about me being autistic and didn’t know about it for too long at that point.
“I think Carl has pretty much lived with autism his whole life and is, I think, a little bit more familiar with it in some ways,” Owen added. “I have too, but not that I knew about. I think it kind of helped me be more accepting to myself. I was quiet about it before that, I really didn’t know how to deal with it. But now, it definitely helped, the whole experience, helped me be more accepting of myself.”
(For an interesting film interpretation of autistic experience, knowledge and understanding, storing and interpretation of information, the film Temple Grandin, with Clare Danes, is a significant contribution.)
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