This sad and beautiful documentary is about an ordinary family who is in fact quite extraordinary.

Sari Braithwaite (Censored) has given us a remarkable gift – 90 minutes in the life of the Barnes family. Janet and Buddha Barnes met at the local RSL and had their first dance to the Black Eyed Peas. Although not alike, they had an instant connection that grew into a great love, something that is palpable as we see them go about their day-to-day lives.

They are like many other families living a working class life. They have dogs and cats and chickens. Buddha is dyslexic and feels he has not been able to achieve more than his own automotive business where his son, Brendan, is an apprentice. His great joy is motorbike riding which he doesn’t get to do as often as he’d like.

What is different about their family is that five of their adult children are neurodiverse in very different ways. Some will need care for the rest of their lives, prompting discussions about what happens after Janet and Buddha die, some are finding ways to live independent lives. Becky has Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), a very rare condition where she can remember every day of her life. Although seen as something of a party trick by others, Becky talks about the difficulty of not being able to forgot traumatic memories, including childhood abuse.

Through it all, Janet in particular is on call for every moment of the ups and downs of the children’s lives, whether its daughter Jess having a meltdown or feeling suicidal or helping them take their abuser to court. She is always up-beat though, joking about needing a holiday and clearly devoted to Buddha and all the kids.

Braithwaite filmed the family over five years and you can tell she became part of the wallpaper. There are no great revelations in the story, just a very human tale of ordinary people who persist, who do good things and shoulder a silent burden.

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