EZRA
Synopsis
Stand-up comic Max Bernal (Bobby Cannavale) and his 11-year-old autistic son Ezra (introducing William Fitzgerald) set off on a road trip in this vivid portrait of a family figuring out how to understand one another. Having recently blown up his career and his marriage, Max is living with his father Stan (Robert De Niro) and is profoundly at odds with his soon-to-be ex-wife Jenna (Rose Byrne) about how to address their son’s special needs. When Ezra is expelled from yet another school, Max makes the controversial decision to take Ezra in the middle of the night, embarking on a cross-country odyssey. Directed by Tony Goldwyn, Ezra also features Vera Farmiga, Rainn Wilson, and Whoopi Goldberg.
About the Film
A richly human story of family love, parenthood, difference, and acceptance, Ezra sets off in the tradition of the rollicking American road-trip comedy. But then it leaves that tradition behind for something fresher and more stirring with its captivating insights into a boy’s life on the autistic spectrum, of a father and son on a wayward quest to find a closer connection, and of a fragile family learning to hold each other together in the midst of a chaotic cross-country chase.
Ezra is a sharp, charismatic 11-year-old whose autism diagnosis is a much bigger deal for his parents than it is for him. Sure, he always says precisely what he’s thinking, which seems to wreak near-constant havoc at school and elsewhere. But he also knows exactly what he needs to feel safe. Meanwhile, his father Max, a comedy writer starting over as a stand-up, worries about everything, including that Ezra isn’t safe enough. When Max’s anxieties mount, Max does what comes naturally to him—makes life even more complicated. In the middle of the night, Max hastily scrambles up his ex’s fire escape and bundles a bleary-eyed Ezra into the car for destinations unknown. Unsure of where it might lead, Max takes Ezra on an equally hilarious and disastrous adventure as father and son start to figure out how to appreciate each other for who they are.
What makes EZRA unique is that the script was written by screenwriter and playwright, Tony Spiridakis, who is the father of a son (now 24 years old) on the autistic spectrum and the young actor who plays Ezra in the film, William A. Fitzgerald, is on the autistic spectrum. This film marks his professional acting debut.
Throughout the production of EZRA, from start to finish, the filmmakers set out to ensure the inclusion of people with close personal or family experience with neurodivergence at every level of cast and crew. The filmmakers also brought in several outside consultants to prevent them from wandering into their own blind spots. These included autism activist and actor Alex Plank (The Good Doctor, The Bridge), who runs WrongPlanet.net, a popular community for individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome and autism; and Elaine Hall, founder of The Miracle Project, an innovative theatre, film, and expressive arts program for individuals with autism, which was featured in the documentary Autism: The Musical.
“Having a neurodivergent lead actor was key,” says Goldwyn (Director). “But in addition to that, we developed a network of people we could go to and repeatedly ask, ‘what are we getting wrong, what are we missing?’ So many people generously helped us to be as real as we could be about life with autism. Even after we had a first cut, we showed it to people in the community, including young people, to give us their candid thoughts. I remember one kid coming up to me and saying, ‘this is my life in that movie,’ which was everything to me.”
Trailer link:
