Review of Mission to Lars (2015) by Maxx D — 27 Apr 2014

This is a touching documentary which no-one thought would make any impact at all. It was filmed in 2009 where a brother and sister wanted to make their disabled brother's dream come true, and they decided to make a little home film of their little adventure.

But, this is a big adventure, and it's a touching, moving and heartwarming documentary about meeting your heroes and family ties. Tom Spicer has a rare form of autism called Fragile X Syndrome, in which he has severe learning difficulties, and he lives in a care home in Bristol.

However, Tom has one crumb of comfort in his life, and that's that he's a huge fan of Lars Ulrich from Metallica. Tom's sister Kate and his brother William make him a big promise, and they will take him to meet Lars Ulrich in America.

So, they fly out to California, and hire out a motor home and follow Metallica on tour in the hope that Tom will get to meet Lars Ulrich, but because of Tom's condition, poor Tom gets cold feet, but Kate and William are determined for the meeting to happen.

Films about mental illnesses can come across as mawkish and sentimental, but there's something very uplifting and joyous about this film, and it's a film about the love of family and how far you'd go to meet a hero, no matter what comes in the way.

It's well worth a look, and you don't have to be a fan of Metallica either.