How THE UNBREAKABLE BOY Shines a Light on Those with Special Needs

Published: February 25, 2025

How THE UNBREAKABLE BOY Shines a Light on Those with Special Needs

By Movieguide® Contributor

Author Scott LeRette explained how his son Austin, who has special needs, has had a profound impact on both his own life and their surrounding community.

Austin was born with severe autism along with brittle bones disease, causing him to live a life very different from most other people. While this has largely limited his ability to operate on his own — he cannot drive, for example — Austin’s unique view on life has allowed to have a profound impact on his surroundings.

The new movie THE UNBREAKABLE BOY tells the family’s story.

“Zach [Levi, in character as Scott] says, ‘I wish I could love anything as much as Austin loves everything,’ and this is something that I find myself thinking about every day,” LeRette told PEOPLE. “Because it’s exactly right. Austin would rather gravitate to the worst of human beings to get to know them. Because he thinks everybody’s redeemable.”

LeRette recalled one instance where Austin befriended his younger brother’s bully, changing how he impacted others and turning him into a lifelong friend. The former bully remains a friend of the family, over a decade later.

This story, and many others, are captured in LeRette’s memoir, The Unbreakable Boy, which has now been turned into the movie of the same name. LeRette hopes that the story will continue to highlight the positive impact those with special needs can have, while also revealing the support they need in order to live prosperous lives.

“The world in general, our country needs so much help with services because when a child turns 18 or 21 [for] special needs, the services tend to just disappear — I mean, overnight. Boom. Stop. Period. They’re gone,” Lerette said.

“[Austin] is 30. He’ll never drive — and it’s not because he couldn’t physically do it, but it’s because he would fall in love with the song on the radio and he’d crash,” he continued. “People need services. It’s a challenge.”

A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:

THE UNBREAKABLE BOY tells the true story of Austin, a boy who was born with brittle bones and autism. His family struggles to understand him, especially his father, Scott, who has an alcohol problem. The family undergoes trials and tribulations until the father strikes up a friendship with a preacher in Alcoholics Anonymous. The preacher encourages Scott to talk to God. Meanwhile, the mother, Teresa, who had a troubled life before she met Scott, regularly attends church with her two sons and prays to God. Also, Austin has a positive impact on everyone, including the other children at his school. Eventually, the father decides his son is perfect just the way he is.

THE UNBREAKABLE BOY is a heartwarming true story with a wonderful script and excellent performances. The movie has a strong Christian, uplifting worldview. It stresses family, kindness, faith, forgiveness, prayer, attending church, and redemption. However, there are many scenes involving alcohol abuse because the father struggles with stress and alcohol. UNBREAKABLE BOY also has some light foul language and a brief violent scene. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.

READ MORE: THE UNBREAKABLE BOY REVIEW

Working on the movie profoundly impacted the cast, too.

“I feel Scott’s journey very personally,” Levi shared. “I hope that my faith is strong enough that I can finish the race. I hope that I am the unbreakable boy.”

Jacob Laval, who plays Austin, recalled his biggest takeaway from his character’s outlook on life.

“[T]here’s that scene where Austin, he gets into that fight, and he gets taken to the mental institution, but he still comes out happy, and he comes out and immediately goes and gets a strawberry milkshake, and he’s just elated,” he told Movieguide®. “I think that that’s the most important thing that I took away from it: to stay positive no matter how bad the situation.”

THE UNBREAKABLE BOY is in theaters now.