Out of My Mind is a heartwarming coming-of-age story that will also break your heart. Based on a novel by Sharon M. Draper, this fictional drama first premiered at the Sundance Festival in 2024 and, due to its enthusiastic reception, was released that same year on Disney+.
Melody Brooks (played by Phoebe-Rae Taylor) is a sixth-grader with Cerebral Palsy. She has a quick wit and a sharp mind but is too often dismissed by others because she’s wheelchair bound and nonverbal (her inner voice is narrated by Jennifer Aniston). Languishing in the special education classroom, Melody’s life is changed when Katherine Ray, a Ph.D. research fellow, visits the class and notices that Melody has something more to give. When Ray advocates that she could join a regular sixth-grade classroom, Melody’s parents are cautious but endorse the plan.
After receiving a Medi–talk device that gives Melody her voice (like the British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking) she is soon competing for a coveted spot on the Whiz Kid Trivia Team that has a chance to go to Washington, D.C., for the finals. Along the way, Melody encounters opposition and discrimination from her classmates, teachers, and other authority figures who sideline her because her disability makes them feel uncomfortable. Defeated at times, Melody learns to not only have a voice but to use it to speak her mind and take her rightful place in the classroom, gently but boldly confronting those who have underestimated her every step of the way.
Out of My Mind is an exceptional film that will tug at your heartstrings. In the end, it will remind those watching that even though we might look different and navigate the world with different abilities, we are all made in the image of God. Viewers will rise and fall with Melodie’s heartache and triumph in this well-told story about an ordinary girl who is finding her way in the world—and turns out to be anything but ordinary. (Rated TV-PG, Disney+ )