Entertainment · Film · 4 hrs ago
Daley Pearson’s film Allen explores grief and the pull of nostalgia
Allen is a new Netflix family film co-created by Daley Pearson, a co-founder of the Brisbane studio behind Bluey.
As a child, Petey befriends an alien he calls Allen, but their time together ends when Allen is summoned home.
Decades later, Petey is stuck in the past, until Allen returns for reasons the film does not reveal.
Pearson says the story is connected to his brother Liam’s death from cancer when Pearson was 13 and Liam was 26.
Pearson describes Liam as his best friend and says his attachment to old music, toys and films connects him to the past.
The film uses Petey’s fixation on childhood memories to explore how nostalgia can keep someone from moving forward.
Daley Pearson says the death of his older brother helped inspire Allen, his new Netflix family film about grief and nostalgia.
Pearson’s brother Liam died of cancer when Pearson was 13 and Liam was 26.
The film follows Petey, who befriends an alien named Allen as a child and struggles to move on after Allen leaves.
Pearson says the film explores how holding on to things from the past can keep people from moving forward.
Pearson co-directed Allen with Jeffrey Walker and co-wrote it with Sophie Miller.
- Who
- Daley Pearson, co-founder of Ludo Studio, made the film with Jeffrey Walker and Sophie Miller.
- What
- Allen is a Netflix family film about a man’s childhood friendship with an alien and his difficulty letting go.
- When
- Not stated
- Where
- The story is set partly in Coolum, a coastal town in Australia.
- Why
- Pearson says his brother’s death and his own attachment to memories and pop culture helped inspire the film.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
His older brother Liam died of cancer at age 26.
Pearson says the film helped him unpick how his brother’s death affected him.
- Film
- Allen
- Streaming service
- Netflix
- Director
- Daley Pearson, with Jeffrey Walker
- Co-writer
- Sophie Miller
- Pearson’s age when Liam died
- 13
- Liam’s age when he died
- 26
What people are saying
I was using the stuff that I love to tell the story of not being able to let go of the stuff you love, and how it maybe holds you back
He was my best friend, the best thing ever to me
As much as I say Allen is about Liam, it’s sort of about the perfume of Liam – that feeling of losing something and wanting it back so badly that you don’t do anything with your life, you just sit there and wait