From Connie Cocchia — the writer, director, and producer behind the shorts Awake and The Art of Being Fine — comes the full-length feature film When Time Got Louder. The coming-of-age drama premiered in Canada in 2022 but will be released in U.S. theaters on November 17, 2023. The film follows Abbie Peterson, who departs for college, leaving behind her brother who has autism and is non-verbal. As she explores her autonomy and sexuality, she is torn between her new life and independence and her love for her brother — who has relied on her since the beginning. And, in her absence, struggles emotionally. 

The trailer opens with a beeping electrocardiogram and pulse oximeter on a patient’s finger before a doctor begins to question an adolescent Abbie (Willow Shields), asking how her absence may have impacted her brother Kayden (Jonathan Simao), resulting in his current predicament. As any teenager would, she reads this as blame — blame for leading her own life. Blame for stepping out of her bubble and into the world, as any teenager yearns to do. 

The trailer then turns back the clock. Abbie opens an acceptance letter to college, and it’s time for her to “go away for a bit.” While her parents want what’s best for Abbie, they’re worried about Kayden, for “Abbie is the only friend he’s ever had,” as his father (Lochlyn Munro) notes. As Abbie goes to parties and lives the college experience, failing to pick up the phone on command, Kayden grows irritable and inconsolable. As the trailer progresses, Abbie comes into her own as her family fights to tread water back at home. The trailer then suggests that the family may lose Kayden as a result of neglect when the need to file an immediate police report surfaces. Abbie notes she never should have left, yet asserts that no one will ever be there for her brother more than her…and the trailer comes to a heartwrenching close. 

It’s clear that When Time Got Louder will be a story about family, resiliency, dependency, growing up, and more that may just leave you torn and tattered. So, is it based on a true story? What inspired the film from Cocchia? 

The inspiration behind ‘When Time Got Louder’ 

Connie Cocchia is a queer individual whose works tend to spotlight the LGBTQ+ experience, and she has a brother with autism. Thus, this film is close to home, but the narrative at play is definitely fictitious. In an interview, she explained:

“Yeah, well, myself, being queer and having a brother on the autism spectrum was, of course, a large driving force behind why I wanted to make this film. But it is a fictitious story. There’s something very traumatic that happens to Kayden in our film, but that luckily has not happened to my family. So many of the elements in the story, in terms of what happens to this family, are fictitious. However, of course, it’s drawn upon my own experiences.”

As North Shore News reports, it was important to Cocchia that the film feel authentic, especially concerning the depiction of autism. She shared: 

“Typically in other media when representing a character with autism they are portrayed as gifted individuals, and while that’s not inaccurate it’s only a representation of a small minority of individuals on the spectrum…”

Kayden is just a boy in his senior year of high school who is living with autism. The film does not try to glamorize or sensationalize the situation, but rather simply depicts his life, and how living with autism impacts his experiences in the world. It was also very important to Cocchia to cast Simao to retain authenticity, as he is an actor who lives with autism. She shared, “It was absolutely crucial to me, it was something that was a non-negotiable.” 

Based on the trailer alone, it’s evident that this film aims to strike a chord with those who share unbreakable sibling bonds, as well as families living with individuals on the autism spectrum. 

When Time Got Louder premieres in US theaters on November 17, 2023.