Mission To Lars
feature / 103pp / dramatic comedy / road movie
An autistic man leaves the safety of his care home in rural England and sets off to America with his siblings on a mission to meet his hero, Lars Ulrich, the drummer from Metallica.
the pitch
“Little Miss Sunshine meets Spinal Tap”
A dramatic comedy / road trip / dramatised adaptation of the feature documentary of the same name. Siblings reconnect after drifting apart, confront their early-onset midlife crises, and do so in the confines of a camper van as they travel across America under the shadow of the mighty Metallica on tour.
Mission To Lars follows Tom, an autistic young man with high support needs, whose lifelong dream is to meet Lars Ulrich, the drummer with Metallica. This is a rock ‘n’ roll trip with a difference, for Tom has Fragile X Syndrome and has spent his adult life in a residential care home; ignored, for the most part, by his siblings, Joe and Beth. He has only ever asked them for one thing, to meet Lars.
Mission to Lars follows Beth and Joe as they decide to take Tom from his home in a sleepy English town and take him to America to find Lars. Any dreams of a bonding rock ‘n’ roll road trip fade as Beth and Joe struggle to understand their brother’s condition, while Tom confronts the challenges of his syndrome and the ignorance and noise in the outside world. There is also the little matter of finding Lars...
Can they make it? Will one of the most iconic rock stars of all time show up? This story manages to combine rock music, autism and dysfunctional families to moving and sometimes hilarious effect.
original feature documentary trailer
The dramatised adaptation is of course inspired by reality but in the interests of upping the stakes, drama and comedy, creative licence has been exercised… That said, the true story is pretty damn crazy!
**Check out The Guardian’s film review of the original documentary here**
