Film as an art form never ceases to amaze with its ability to lift the human spirit, and never have these words been truer than with 2024’s A Little Something Extra. Even when it resorts to some standard film scenarios it still gets under your skin in the best possible way. By the film’s end, you will be emotionally invested.
The premise of two criminal types escaping apprehension after a bout of robbery by stowing away on a bus headed to a summer camp has been done before quite a few times. The difference this time is the bus is filled with young adults with disabilities. To say that they have colourful personalities is to undersell how engaging they actually are. Their quirks and the love they show towards each other is transcendent.
The crooks, in this case, a father and son find themselves drawn to this vibrant mob for different reasons. As those differences play out you quickly look past the camp members’ disabilities and just see them for their unique and engaging personalities. Even the ones with quite annoying traits will eventually wear down your defences and win you over. This transformation is very life-affirming.
Waving your agenda in an audience’s face hardly ever yields the desired results but capture those people’s emotions first and the life lessons can be transformative. A Little Something Extra starts as a fairly straightforward dark comedy but soon transforms into something more and its power to take you along for that ride and win you over is impressive indeed.
Rob Hudson