Upcoming movie ‘Come Play’ has a lead character with autism, a welcoming trend say members of Indian film industry

The lead character of upcoming English horror movie ‘Come Play’ is a boy with autism. The movie, scheduled for an October release, has the trailer out and is trending on social media. It is indeed great to see how characters with disabilities are being portrayed in cinema in a positive way. Members from the Indian film industry agree to the same.

It is indeed a welcoming sign that more film-makers are choosing characters with disabilities and even casting real-life disabled people in movies. This international trend is catching up in India too with sensitized film-makers not showing disabled characters are those who are to be mocked at or teased. Since past few days, the trailer of upcoming horror movie ‘Come Play’ has been doing rounds on social media. The main character, a young boy, is under the autism spectrum disorder and no, he is not shown in a bad light!

A spine-chilling trailer

Here is a sneak peak into what the trailer tells us about the movie. Oliver, a young boy with autism, makes a new friend from his iPad. For Oliver, who is also non-verbal, a virtual friend is indeed a great idea to have fun with. But things take a nasty turn when the friend he made, Larry, turns out to be a creepy creature that walks around places give the spooks. The trailer does not sound too promising. But horror movie fans will have to wait till October, when the movie is scheduled to release, to see how well it does.

The movie stars young actor Azhy Robertson in the lead role. ‘Come Play’ is apparently the feature-length version of 2017 short film titled ‘Larry’.

Breaking stereotypes

Recently, Jason Katims, an American television writer and producer announced his upcoming TV show ‘On the Spectrum’ which is an adaptation of the Israeli series. All the three main characters of the series are youngsters under the autism spectrum and the series is a journey through their lives. So the trend is happening and is already on.

Ann Augustine, a Malayalam actor says, “I have been noticing that film-makers, even from India are portraying disabilities in a positive way. It is high-time that this happens because over the past many years there has been stereotypes about what and what not people with disabilities can do. How can a film-maker decided what people with disabilities can or cannot do? It is all about an individual and it is time we see past their disabilities. A sea of change is always welcome and much needed”.

Agreeing to this film director Nithin Renji Panicker says, “The change has to begin sometime. I think more than whether the movie ‘Come Play’ is going to be a success, what matters is how the character with autism is being portrayed in it. I genuinely hope there are no sterotypes associated with autism in the movie. Cinena is a mass medium and it reaches out to a large group of people. So it is important to show things the way it is”.

Reactions on social media

Many people took to social media to share their views about ‘Come Play’ and the character with autism in it.

“The lead character in come play with me reminds me a bit of Danny from The Shining. As someone who’s experienced the challenges that come with autistic children, it will be interesting to see how the film industry will adapt to these rolls”, tweeted Christine Jacob.

“I keep seeing this ad for the movie “come play” and it features an autistic character in it, it makes want to see it because I want to see it to how they portray autism,which is something that I Have, but at the same time I’m not a big fan of modern horror movies”, tweeted Lisa Frank.

Watch in Sign Language

Also Read:

• ‘On the Spectrum’ from Jason Katims will feature 3 actors with autism!