The Unbreakable Boy Review: An underwatched masterpiece of 2025

Spoilers ahead for The Unbreakable Boy!

I went to watch this with my mom for her birthday. The whole reason I wanted to watch it in the first place was the goofy "this is the Mountain Dew: Code Red of hats" line... I mean, that's the best flavor of Mountain Dew, so the kid and I were on the same wavelength there. However, a film I went to see for a goofy, relatable joke turned out to be my favorite film of 2025 and has skyrocketed into my top 25 movies of all time. There are very few films I've been this excited to review, so I'm going to stop wasting time with this intro and get into the review.

As a critic myself, the first thing I wanted to do was deflect some of the ridiculous comments fellow critics shared about this film. I'm all for opinions that are completely different from mine, but I found some of these so baffling that I couldn't help sharing my personal opinion.

First of all, just because some people mention God a few times and go to a church, (and the controversial Zachary Levi is in it) doesn't mean it is so faith-based that non-Christians should get their panties in a twist about it. It's one thing to dislike a faith-based film, and it's another to be an official movie critic who dogs on a film just because it's faith-based. I'm sick of seeing that. It's just the same deal if I were to trash on a movie about LGBTQIA+ acceptance just because it has too much talk about people in the LGBTQIA+ community. It's ridiculous and has no place in the world of film criticism.

Obviously, having a different opinion about religion? Great. Totally fine! Having a different opinion about the actors (specifically Zachary Levi), producers, or the autism consultant's exploitative history in the movie's creation? Completely valid. Disagreeing with how the Dad turns to God for help when you're an atheist? That's okay.

Secondly, I've seen critics say the script sucks because it isn't an accurate depiction of autism and in the same breath say "why should I care about anything in this movie?". I'm sorry, but some of my closest friends have autism and still enjoyed this film. Critics who pretend they have authority on autism without experiencing it are silly. Hence why I'm not claiming I have any authority in the situation outside of having friends who experience it. As I've seen with my friends, autism is a spectrum and shows itself through a variety of means. Just because Austin's autism isn't the autism you hoped for in the film doesn't mean it isn't real.

Some critics go into every film that mentions Jesus so cynically that they don't even watch what's being displayed, instead watching a different movie constructed in their own mind palaces. One critic literally said this movie will "satisfy the terminally vanilla moviegoers, but the rest will see right through its game." Okay, so we're not allowed to tell true stories anymore? We're allowed to tell beautiful stories like Hidden Figures or, say, the upcoming Song Sung Blue and give them a great score. Yet, as soon as it's too Christian or "trying to be feel good" for you, it becomes "emotionally manipulative"? Right. Because that makes sense.

Obviously, many great reviews delve into problems with this film, but things like targeting audiences for caring about Jesus or an emotionally broken family are why people don't look at reviews from critics anymore.  

Some negative reviews for this film were great. Many fellow critics discussed how the movie wasn't as true to the book and focused too much on the father rather than the son, disliking how the film frames the father as "the true unbreakable boy" and fails to focus on the more intriguing characters. Or people disliked various aspects of the script, actually highlighting what was wrong with it instead of dancing around the fact they just hate religion. I'm not at all stating this is a perfect movie, even though I lean very positive on it. I'm just taking a stance against people who throw shade on films without anything to back it up, other than the fact that they can't stand watching a movie about people with political or religious beliefs different from their own.

The Unbreakable Boy is one of those movies I could never forget. I felt every emotion on the spectrum in this perfect retelling of a young boy's life and how it affects his family: the joy, the pain, the confusion, the resilience, and the spirit that comes with being human.

I agree that this film should've focused more on Austin and his development. Many times, it leaned too much on his father or didn't lean enough on his mother's problems, and showed her in too kind a light compared to the father, when they both obviously had some issues. While I do disagree that the ending is too "rose-colored", I can see where that argument is coming from, as I get that parenthood and life struggles never truly end in the runtime of a movie. Since a true story is being told, and real life isn't a feel-good script, I totally understand why some people were left disappointed and feeling like it was all wrapped up a little too nicely.

After all, The Unbreakable Boy is really more about being a slice-of-life, character-focused piece about accepting people and learning about them than it is about delivering a Hallmark ending, so leaning negative on the film's resolution is understandable. However, I still saw all the characters as very human and imperfect, and it felt more like a step in the right direction than a perfect resolution for me, so it was an adequate enough ending to this beautiful story.

I also agree with the fact many people say it was shot rather generically and that the direction was at times stifled. I also understand how people feel the film leaned into some of the clichés of feel-good movies a little bit too much instead of making it more psychological or gritty. I did start to feel some of those clichés shine through in the latter part of the movie, whereas the first act of the film felt a lot more down-to-earth in its portrayal of familial struggles. I also understand those that were hoping for a film about a boy's fight against the world's cynicism and moral corruptness based on the trailers, and instead got a story about a man learning to love his child more for who he is.

I also truly appreciate the critics who are on the spectrum and disliked this movie. I really enjoyed reading Al Alexander's negative review on the film, as it was grounded in his life experiences. While many critics who seemed to have no experience with autism did bring down my opinion on critics as a whole as I researched this film, I was glad to see that people with authority on the subject offered actual, precise criticism on the film's themes.

I believe there's so much to love in The Unbreakable Boy. I love the grit of this movie. It shows harsh realities of how some people aren't at all prepared to be a parent. It shows how difficult it is to parent a complex child, and it doesn't waver away from that or sugarcoat it. With how much I listen to true crime stories and how many real life examples I see of completely incompetent parents, I love seeing this story of how a man tackles head-on the fact that he's a piece of work and doesn't just let himself marinate in his mediocrity.

Jacob Laval does an amazing job of portraying Austin. I love how optimistic and fun and kind of a character Austin is. Sure, he's autistic and has brittle bone disease, but his diagnoses do not define him (something that many depictions struggle with). While his imperfect father may boil him down to that at times, the first things I think of when I think about Austin in this movie are his smile, his humor, and his impeccable fashion sense. His fantastic personality made me smile (and cry) a number of times throughout the movie. He felt like such a real person that I would love to meet, something I struggle to say about many movie characters in recent memory. I love Jacob Laval, and can't wait to see what his future is. I've been a huge fan of him since I saw him in another of my favorite movies, 8-Bit Christmas. Maybe he's the secret sauce behind making an all-time-great movie...

I'm really happy with the way it portrayed the family as the main character, not just Austin. While I did think the father could've had a little bit less focus sometimes, it wasn't at all a major problem with the film because, frankly, Austin always stole the show anyway. Building out the story around the family worked a lot more than it could've because, in the end, a lot of movies really sideline the main character's family when they are so integral to the lives of the characters. It's sad to see the younger brother Logan get sidelined often, but that's often the reality of life, and it portrayed his character very realistically.

It's hard to do a slice-of-life story right. When there isn't really much of a plot outside of "this is how these people live", it can be hard to love the plot. However, when you have a movie that delves into the beauty of acceptance, the growth required to be a successful parent, the triumph of overcoming alcoholism, the joy of finding true love, and the power of different life perspectives? You've got a powerful slice-of-life story on your hands.

The Reel Ranker Verdict

Reel or Unreel? - Reel
The Reel Ranker Score: 97%
Letter Score: S+
Star Ranking: 5 out of 5

The Unbreakable Boy is one of those movies I could never forget. I felt every emotion on the spectrum in this perfect retelling of a young boy's life and how it affects his family: the joy, the pain, the confusion, the resilience, and the spirit that come with being human. This is the type of movie that everybody must see because it really reflects on the universal human experience in a way that everyone can relate to. This is one of those films that left a lasting impact on me, really changing how I viewed life itself. The Unbreakable Boy will always deserve a 5 star rating, and I only wish I could give this film an even higher rating.

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