WA film He Ain’t Heavy imagines kidnapping a meth addict to get them clean. It was inspired by a true story.

The scourge of meth in this State is seen in our suburbs and in WA courthouses. But a very personal story of methamphetamine addiction is the subject of a new feature film, He Ain’t Heavy. Featuring Aussie screen legend Greta Scacchi (Presumed Innocent), her daughter Leila George (Animal Kingdom) and Vikings: Valhalla star Sam Corlett, the movie is based on the real-life experience of director David Vincent Smith. The inspiration came one night when Smith was driving home from a film shoot. “My mother called, ‘Your brother is here’, and I could hear smashing windows in the background as he tried to claw his way inside,” Smith said. After years of experiencing violence, time spent in hospital emergency rooms and watching his own life take a backseat to the all-consuming task of having a sibling addicted to meth, Smith had an epiphany. Kidnap his brother, imprison him in a remote part of WA and wait until the demon of addiction relinquished its grip. Smith isn’t alone in contemplating such a drastic course of action, and other West Aussie families in this predicament can surely sympathise with the hopelessness that sets in after years of battling the insidious impacts of ice. Since the late 1990s, WA has had one of the highest rates of meth use in the country, well above the national average. But, while Smith’s experience is not unique, the filmmaker knew kidnapping was not a viable option, so he sought a measure of catharsis by channelling the trauma into the screenplay for He Ain’t Heavy. In 2021, Smith and producer Jess Parker were awarded the prestigious West Coast Visions grant from Screenwest, and this $750,000 production funding was crucial to getting Smith’s debut feature off the ground. The film opens with a scene very similar to what Smith described above, which proves the last straw for George’s Jade, who embarks on a plan to kidnap her little brother Max (Corlett) and get him clean. However, Jade’s well-laid plan starts to unravel when their mum (Scacchi) discovers what’s going on and can’t stand to see her boy locked up like an animal, even if it is for his own good. The performances from the key cast are fantastic, especially WAAPA graduate Corlett, who is positively Ledger-esque in his portrayal of addiction. Like Smith, it’s a subject Corlett has personal experience with. “Addiction has been in my family for a long time,” the 28-year-old told The West Australian. “I never met my grandfather on my mum’s side because of alcohol and rage, and my uncle wasn’t too present either . . . and one of my earliest memories is being with my mum at an (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting.” To make Max as authentic as possible, the actor also spoke to people sleeping rough in Fremantle and called it “a gift” to be able to “honour” such weighty subject matter. The director is quick to add that he doesn’t see He Ain’t Heavy as a solution to addiction. “If I knew the answer to this, what to do, I would make a five-minute YouTube video or write a book,” Smith said. “How we heal as a society, as a community, I don’t think we have the answers yet. “What I wanted to do is present a dilemma that many people are familiar with and stimulate a conversation, and I know it might upset people or it might trigger some people, but . . . families just in isolation, trying to resolve this on their own, is not working either.” He Ain’t Heavy is in theatres nationally from October 17.

WA film He Ain’t Heavy imagines kidnapping a meth addict to get them clean. It was inspired by a true story.

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