According to Otto *** (2025, Jasper Musgrave, Wayne Tunks, Brendan Paul) – Classic Movie Review 13,549

According to Otto (2025) is a funny, sunny Aussie comedy, with a personable, appealing performance by Jasper Musgrave as schoolboy Otto Brooks, who decides to come out on his 16th birthday,

‘Welcome to the world of Otto, today he’s coming out.’

According to Otto (2025) is a funny, sunny, ludicrously optimistic sitcom-style Aussie comedy, with a personable, appealing performance by Jasper Musgrave as schoolboy Otto Brooks, who decides to come out on his 16th birthday, and rough and ready, but mostly very amusing turns by the rest of the cast.

According to Otto is toe-curlingly nice, and wildly unrealistic (especially the ending), but saying all the right things. Otto says a lot of these things directly to camera, or sometimes sequences run and then he tells us ‘okay that could never have happened’ but wishes it could. This works well for the film. Jasper Musgrave sells it. Hey, it’s a comedy, it doesn’t have to be realistic.

The light-hearted film is often very daft, but it’s also often very funny, and always entirely likeable. Writer/ director Wayne Tunks gives himself a jolly role as Otto’s way-too-accepting father. Brendan Paul plays Max Lester, Otto’s best friend at school who he has a crush on. Jacinta Moses has quite a good time playing the briefly sceptical mum, Corrine Brooks. The stroke-afflicted gran (non-PC bad taste warning here) and mouthy older sister are funny characters too, and so are the boys’ teacher and head teacher. They are larger than life characters, it’s a comedy!

It says on Jasper Musgrave’s Internet page: ‘I always put my heart and soul into what I do.’ And he obviously really does here, which is why he is so personable and appealing. He is eager to please, and so is the film.

A crowdfunded feature, made for an estimated A$10,000.

It is available free on Amazon Prime for those with Prime membership.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,549

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