Iron Boy

TIFF Film #8

Quite a few films at this festival have been dealing with the idea of inner lives, lives that are internal, not showcased to the world, sometimes rarely even explored ourselves. None more so moving than Iron Boy. The central premise of the film is this boy who is burdened by having to wear a brace made of iron and the complications that arise because of this. The film holds on this boy and his journey, rarely are we exploring the lives of others, however they are still moving on around him.

Since we stay so focused on him we get to this wonderful point at the end when all of the characters in his family have experienced change and hardship, that we have been privy to only in small, little flashes, and suddenly a realisation hits that we are all burdened by our own things. We just don't realise that others are struggling. The main character, due to his brace, his struggle is external but every single one of his family members was dealing with something. The film is tactfully dealing with this idea of selfishness, feeling like we're the only people burdened with problems, where nothing could be further from the truth.

Telling this story using animation was an inspired choice; it allows for these moments of surrealism to creep in, to showcase our central character's rage and the tilting of his world through his eyes. It's also just a gorgeously composed film, the animation almost feeling like watercolour paintings; every frame blending together with such fluidity is truly a marvel to watch.

It's got a lovely central message despite its simplicity of how conformity is not always necessarily a good thing, and that learning to embrace our differences is what makes the world so colourful. Without spoilers, there's a specific decision made in the very final scene of this movie that I think exemplified and propelled that theme further.

A hard thing to learn while growing up is that we don't always get to choose the path of life that we're on, that change is inevitable, and dealing with that as a child is really difficult. But this film wonderfully showcased the beauty of change, of difference and despite how hard it is, how fulfilling it can be to embrace your differences.

It also doesn't have the cookie-cutter happy family that animated movies normally have, or if they're not a well-oiled machine, there's perhaps a central disagreement that gets resolved by the end of the film. The family here feels like complex individuals, despite not having much screen time. The family is fractured and they have lost how to communicate with each other. They're holding contempt for each other and the things that have happened. What's so interesting is as the passage of time is presented in the film, these feelings can become more volatile and angrier, more serrated, and the only antidote to that is communication and to express love to each other.

The film just has some wonderful lessons like that. The central relationship between our main character and the girl who likes him is this gorgeous example of letting somebody know who you really are and then loving you in spite of that leaning into your differences is what makes you special.

Just a tender, gorgeous film that is full of heart and love, and it's absolutely gorgeous to look at.