Heavy Load Movie Review
Author: Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2009/09/07 - Updated: 2016/11/18
Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Related Publications
Synopsis: Movie Heavy Load documents a year in the life of English punk band Heavy Load whose members include musicians with learning disabilities.
Introduction
The Movie "Heavy Load" documents a year in the life of a middle-aged English punk-garage band, Heavy Load, whose members include three musicians with learning disabilities.
Main Content
Heavy Load shows how the band overcomes various trials, and proves that punk culture, social activism, and learning disabilities are not exclusive to one another.
Heavy Load is about the struggle through difficulties as it captures how the band works its way up to a mainstream music festival.
Over the last 10 years Heavyload have managed to survive through their combination of raucous energy, attitude and sheer volume but now they are about to hit the big time with a feature length documentary (Heavy Load) being made about their journey from social care to stardom, and back again, and their mission to demonstrate that disability rocks.
There are few genres left in music that have yet to be defined. Heavyload have unwittingly created a brand new one.
Reviews from From Rotten Tomatoes
"Intriguing and engaging rockumentary that demolishes stereotypes of the mentally challenged, and celebrates the inspirational story of Heavy Load."
"Charting the high notes and bum notes during the two-year recording of their debut album 'The Queen Mother's Dead', it's a non-patronizing comedy of conflicting ambitions as they dive into the mainstream. Punk licks, crucified classics and Kylie collide in a film that turns the feel-good up to 11."
"The only difference is that three of the five have a learning disability - but in this documentary, which is very funny in places, it's not disabilities that define them."
Heavy Load's new found confidence enables them to establish the 'Stay Up Late' movement, a campaign to allow the disabled to stay out past the 7 to 9.30pm curfew that sees the band's audiences halved, taking their cause to the highest levels of government.
Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.