The Black Balloon

Presumably because there are too many actual black sheep in Australia for the term to mean anything, this movie focuses on an Aussie family that’s the black balloon of its neighborhood. Autistic Charlie (Ford) is no idiot savant; instead, he plays havoc
with the social life of his brother (Wakefield), as their mother (Collette) prepares to drop yet another sprog. Elissa Down approaches autism without being maudlin, placing the messy action in a summery realm where bronzed kids learn to grow up, fast.