You’d think a Disney movie about a sweet kid overcoming the difficulties of cerebral palsy would be overly sweet or forcefully positive (Disney-fied, if you will), but Out of My Mind is surprisingly tempered. A smart and sensitive script and great performances across the board work to make the film a balanced and heart-warming portrait of a disabled girl coming of age. It doesn’t give you false hope that everything will be okay, but it’s not grim about the world either. Instead, it gives you a realistic and likable character in Melody (played by Phoebe-Rae Taylor and voiced, amusingly, by Jennifer Aniston), a bright 6th-grader determined to compete in a national trivia quiz with her classmates. Throughout the film, displays a toughness and an agency that not many disabled characters get to enjoy onscreen. There are cliched moments here and there, but Taylor and her co-stars make them feel true and lived in.
"A sweet, fun, and meaningfully empathetic Disney Plus movie about a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy."
— David Ehrlich
"Taylor’s performance is the pulse of the picture. Her nuanced expressions shatter hearts in painful moments, in addition to making them swell with pride during everyday triumphs."
— Courtney Howard
Melody Brooks, a sixth grader with cerebral palsy, has a quick wit and a sharp mind, but because she is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, she is not given the same opportunities as her classmates. When a young educator notices her student's untapped potential and Melody starts to participate in mainstream education, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.
ired of being babied, twelve-year-old Melody insists on transferring from special ed to a regular school. Despite her excitement, her classmates have trouble adjusting to her cerebral palsy.
Apart from Taylor’s phenomenal physical performance, that rousing speech by the film’s end will live in my mind in the days to come.
It’s the kind of film that makes cliches feel fresh again.
DGA
1 win
Sundance
1 nomination
WGA
1 nomination
Absolutely loved it. I watched this with my 5yo and got a chance to teach her a few things about being empathic towards disabled people.