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The Grown-Ups

Name: The Grown-Ups
Director: Maite Alberdi
Released: 2017
Duration: 82 min

Representation Score

8.8/10

Excellent

2017

Director

Maite Alberdi

Runtime

82 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Maite Alberdi’s documentary is a powerful reclamation of adulthood for individuals with Down Syndrome. It successfully disrupts the common media cliché of infantilizing neurodivergent people, instead presenting them as complex adults with significant social ability to act. The film excels by treating neurodivergence as a facet of identity rather than a deficit. By focusing on a long-standing social bond in Chile, it provides a culturally specific perspective that avoids Western-centric clichés. While the film lacks explicit LGBTQ+ themes, its strength lies in its refusal to use disability as a mere plot device for neurotypical growth. It centers the subjects' struggle for dignity and social integration.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Grown-Ups have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film does not focus on queer romantic narratives or LGBTQ+ identities. Instead, it highlights the group's shared neurodivergence without emphasizing non-straight relationships.

How does The Grown-Ups portray gender?

Good

The narrative emphasizes emotional independence and complex social navigation. It challenges traditional hierarchies by centering the subjects' own desires and rejecting being treated like children.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Grown-Ups?

Good

By centering a Chilean social group, the film offers a localized, non-Anglo-centric perspective. This organic representation avoids including someone from a minority group without giving them real depth found in Western-dominated narratives.

How does The Grown-Ups represent religion and culture?

Good

The film critiques institutional hierarchies that categorize individuals based on cognitive profiles. It prioritizes the lived experiences of the subjects over standardized clinical or religious frameworks.

Does The Grown-Ups include disability representation?

Excellent

The film is a profound study of ability to act that avoids 'inspiration porn.' The subjects are protagonists who drive the narrative through their friendships and demands for adult respect.

Present on Screen

Exceptional portrayal of disability through total subject ability to act and autonomy.
Challenges infantilization clichés by focusing on the subjects' desire for adult dignity.
Provides a non-Anglo-centric, organic cultural perspective centered in Chile.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or queer romantic narratives.
Does not explore specific non-straight relationship structures within the group.

Official Synopsis

A group of friends with Down Syndrome have been attending the same school for 40 years, and they are tired of being treated like children, they are grown-ups and want to live as such.

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