Reel Affirmations Review: ‘When Time Got Louder’
Despite heartfelt performances, 'When Time Got Louder' is a film severely short on realism and imagination.
Let’s start with the positive. For anyone interested in the challenge of raising a young adult with autism, Connie Cocchia’s When Time Got Louder (★★☆☆☆) provides a few basics in the guise of a sleekly-produced, low-impact drama delivered by a sincere cast.
The bad news is that Cocchia, who wrote and directed, is light on story and heavy on characters who fail to ask key questions or explain things that would avoid a great deal of kerfuffle.
When you add sets so bland they look staged by a realtor on a budget, teen bedrooms with less personality than a hotel room, and places with names like Bluewater, Whitestone, and Greenville, things feel a lot like a TV show that’s about to get canceled. If Cocchia’s point is that the autism experience exists in nameless, faceless Everytown USA, the message never makes it past the uncluttered counters.
Cocchia begins her story in a hospital where Kayden, a seriously autistic near-18-year-old, lies injured and unconscious. Out of concern for his and other people’s welfare, a social worker interviews Kayden’s mother Tish, dad Mark, and big sister, Abbie.
Through a series of flashbacks during the interviews, we learn that things have been reasonably stable at home until Abbie left for college. Kayden and his parents have been somewhat struggling to adjust to the absence of his devoted sister, while Abbie has been using her new-found freedom to start dating Karly (played with some charisma by Ava Capri despite the intrusion of a dire syrupy-pop soundtrack). All serviceable stuff, if nothing that moves the needle.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the pivotal flashback that tells us what put Kayden in the hospital, things get so hokey it would make the producers of T.J Hooker blush. Dad Mark has been pushing Kayden to practice his independence by riding the bus into town, following behind in his car. On the very day Abbie is due home for winter break, Kayden takes the bus to the grocery store, dad in tow.
Despite the seemingly serene suburb, some thugs climb aboard and with CSI-style predictability, fixate on Kayden, taunting him for wearing the headphones that help with his sensory issues. If you never again thought you’d hear a bad guy yell, “Hey, listen to me when I’m talking you, man!” at a person with obvious disabilities, you’re in for a treat.
After giving Kayden a bizarre Sopranos-style beating while the bus driver calls dispatch, the hoods jump out one door while the police arrive in another and yet an officer still manages to arrest Kayden who has been broadcasting every sign of autism known to mankind. Where dad is, is anybody’s guess. It’s a ridiculous scenario and it does nothing to illustrate a serious issue.
On a better note, Jonathan Simao is a stand-out as Kayden, keeping his portrayal understated in a way that allows space to think about what his world must be like and appreciate his gentle charm.
Particularly affecting, for example, are the moments in the hospital when he cannot understand why he is in pain (of course, logic would dictate that someone would explain that it will all get better — but that isn’t going to happen here).
As Tish, Elizabeth Mitchell also rises above the script to bring some authenticity to a loving mother fearing for her vulnerable son. As dad Mark, Lochlyn Munro does his best with an underwritten character, while Willow Shields cuts her teeth for future teen dramas as Abbie.
Unfortunately, as heartfelt as these performances may be, they can’t make up for a film this short on realism and imagination.
When Time Got Louder screens at Landmark’s E Street Cinema on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m.
It is the only film not available in the Reel Affirmations supplementary virtual festival.
Individual tickets and passes are available for this weekend’s festival, held both at the Landmark and online.
For more information, or to purchase, visit https://reelaffirmations2022.eventive.org/passes/buy.
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