Story

When stand-up comedian Max Bernal’s (Bobby Cannavale) autistic son, Ezra (William A. Fitzgerald), is expelled from yet another school and prescribed antipsychotic medicine, Max decides to take matters into his own hands. Late one night, he sneaks into the house his ex-wife, Jenna (Rose Byrne), shares with her new boyfriend and abducts Ezra.

Max believes that Ezra needs time and connection, not medicine. Max also believes that Ezra needs to learn to be a part of the world, not separate from it, so he takes his son on a road trip to visit an old friend, Nick (Rainn Wilson).

While Max is on the road, he gets a call from his manager, Jayne (Whoopi Goldberg), telling him that he has been offered a spot on Jimmy Kimmel Live but he needs to be in Los Angeles by the following week. Max agrees and sets off with Ezra. He soon discovers there’s a nationwide amber alert and that he’s wanted for kidnapping.

Doing his best to keep his son safe, Max enlists the help of old friends to help him get to LA. In the process, Ezra develops in ways Max could never have imagined. Meanwhile, Jenna and Max’s father, Stan (Robert De Niro), are following their own leads to reach Ezra and Max before the authorities do.

Themes

Autistic children; divorce; family breakdown; abandonment issues; intergenerational trauma

Violence

Ezra has some violence. For example:

• Max recalls the time Stan knocked down a guy because his steak was overcooked.
• Jenna’s boyfriend makes a threat about killing Max, and Ezra believes that the man might kill his father.
• There’s a reference to Max kicking Conan O’Brien in the balls.
• Max gets very angry at a doctor. He yells at him and then grabs and shoves him in a threatening way. He’s arrested and put in jail.
• Ezra hits himself repeatedly in the head when he believes he has made a mistake.
• Max refers to his inner child having a gun.
• Ezra bites a woman on the arm.
• Max gets physically angry with a bar owner and his wife.
• Jenna takes a blunt knife and holds it to Nick’s throat.
• Stan slaps Nick in the head.
• There’s a reference to Stan hitting or hurting Max when he was a child.
• Stan tells Max to do whatever it takes not to hit his son. He tells him to bite his arms off or tie himself to a tree if he has to.

Sexual references

Ezra has some sexual references. For example:

• Stan asks, ‘Who cries after [having sex with] a stranger?’
• Max does a routine with jokes about lesbians.
• A character who wants to be a nun tells Max she has a crush on his son but that it’s OK because she hasn’t taken her vows yet.
• Nick tells Max that his new gig ‘beats telling [penis] jokes to drunken tourists’.
• Max tells a woman he’ll ‘knock the [penis] out of her mouth’.
• Ezra says, ‘I’m going to die a virgin’.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Ezra shows some use of substances. For example:

• One character asks if he can buy another character a drink.
• Ezra sits at a bar and orders a White Russian. The woman sitting beside him tells the bartender to make it a virgin White Russian. Ezra ends up ordering a pineapple juice.
• Max smokes a joint before he goes on stage to do his comedy routine. When he finishes his set, Ezra smells him and begins to chant, ‘Max is stoned. Max is stoned’.
• Max and Nick smoke a bong.
• Nick and Max drink beer together on a couple of occasions.
• Nick tells Max that Stan ‘ruined his high’.

Nudity and sexual activity

Ezra has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

• Max sits on the end of a bed crying. He has a blanket wrapped around his hips but his legs and chest are bare. There is a woman lying in the bed behind him who wakes to the sound of his sobs. She asks whether he’s crying and then begins putting on her bra.
• Ezra’s bare chest is shown as he plays with his tummy.
• Ezra is shown with a bare chest and arms after Max pulls him from a bathtub where his arms were burning from the hot water.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in Ezra:

• Risperdal is shown and promoted by the hospital.
• There are repeated references to Rice Krispies, including the iconic characters Snap, Crackle and Pop.
• Costco is mentioned.
• There’s a reference to The Conan O’Brien Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Coarse language

Ezra has strong coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Ezra is a poignant drama full of powerful performances and raw comedy that shines a light on some aspects of neurodivergence. Screenwriter Tony Spiridakis shares an authentic story based on life with his own autistic son, who is portrayed by an actor with autism.

Because of its coarse language, sexual references, themes and drug use, Ezra isn’t a family movie. Rather, it’s best suited to viewers aged 17 years and older.

The main messages from Ezra are that life shouldn’t be about changing or fixing your child. Rather it should be about getting to know them, appreciating them, and letting them be who they are.

Values in Ezra that you could reinforce with your children include compassion, courage, forgiveness, love and tolerance and understanding.

Ezra could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like:

• supporting neurodivergent children and celebrating neurodiversity
• being compassionate, understanding and inclusive of autistic children
• kidnapping a child, even when it’s done out of love and a desire to protect.
• using drugs before doing something that makes you nervous
• labelling children or making assumptions about them before you know who they are.