"Lachie"

24 November 2023

3 mins 20s

Until the end.

Lachie Stephenson was nineteen years old when he was diagnosed with a form of terminal brain cancer (in his case, diffuse midline glioma). His mother, Amy, wants to share that moment with others, as well as the good times captured on home video.

She entrusts Lachie's story to the Brain Cancer Centre and director Michael Hili—neither of whom let the Stephensons down. The film keeps viewers on their toes with time jumps, intense audio, and production design that straddles reality and fiction, but the emotional heart beats loudest.

Just as the commercial threatens to overwhelm (Amy's mind becomes a maelstrom of memories and distorted sounds), it's Lachie who breaks the tension with a line that could only come from real life. The hope is that more concerted research into brain cancer will spare future generations from a sea of tears.

Australia

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