Autrel

A well-meaning Canadian dad discovers that the superhero his eight-year-old son imagined him to be might be more real than either of them expected — because a child's belief isn't just a reaction to who you are. It's the thing that makes you who you become.

Characters

Rob Lavoie / Rocket Rob — A Canadian dad and arena energy engineer at Titan Sports Tech who becomes the superhero his son imagines. Cape is a dish towel. Powers are fueled by his son's belief — and his engineering knowledge saves the city.

Max Lavoie (8) — The power source. His imagination transforms his dad into Rocket Rob. When he stops believing, the hero — and the film — go quiet.

Claire Lavoie / Vela — Rob's wife. A retired superhero who chose family over the cape. Her mid-film reveal recontextualizes everything. In Act Three, she suits up again and fights alongside Rob. B-theme: strength isn't carrying it alone.

Victor Watt — Rob's former colleague at Titan. Scaled their arena tech to control the city grid. His hand drifts to his jacket pocket every time he mentions family. "I had one of those once." Dissolves when Rob chooses differently.

Coach Hank — Max's hockey coach. Delivers the film's thesis at pickup, and its resolution at the arena: "And you're here."

Maple — The family cat. Behavioral arc from confident hunter to uncertain sentinel to purposeful operative. Always shows up. Unexplained. Trusted by the audience before anyone earns it.

Comparable Properties

The Incredibles — Family superhero dynamics, secret identity, work-life tension

Inside Out — Emotional depth, dual-audience storytelling, a theme parents feel in their bones

Up — The montage. The quiet devastation. The love story underneath the adventure.

Toy Story — Being someone's hero, the fear of not being enough

Structure

Act One "The Greatest Hero Ever" (~25 min) — Max's imagination at full power. Hydro Rex. The rocket car. The pancake flip. A kid who believes his dad is a superhero.
Act Two "The Cost" (~45 min) — The Silence. The empty seat. The Vela reveal. Marriage fracturing under the weight of a secret.
Act Three "What Makes a Hero" (~20 min) — "Game's at seven. Then we finish this before seven." Rob recognizes Watt's machine — Titan tech he helped design. Both parents fight. "You already know why." The dissolution. The race. The golden seat fills. Max sees both of them. "Every family has heroes. Ours has the best ones."

"Being a hero isn't about saving the world. It's about showing up for the people who believe in you."

Every superhero film gives the hero powers and asks "can they handle it?" Rocket Rob gives a child the power — belief — and asks "what happens when it goes away?" The Incredibles starts with superheroes and finds the family story. Rocket Rob starts with a family and finds the superhero story. And when both parents race across town — not to save the city, but to make a hockey game — the audience understands: the seat that fills is the real victory.

The Signature Moment — "The Silence" & "The Seat Fills"

Mid-film, after one too many missed bedtimes, Max quietly stops narrating his dad's life as a superhero story. He doesn't announce it. The action figures go in a drawer. The dish-towel cape stays folded on the chair — and the cat sits on it. The film loses its imagination track — its color, its fun, its engine. Kids feel something is wrong. Parents feel grief. They recognize this. It's the moment your child stops playing pretend.

The payoff: after the final battle, Rob and Claire don't fly home. They run. Two exhausted parents racing across town to make a hockey game. They slide into the stands during the second period. The golden seat — empty since that regular Tuesday — fills. Max looks up from the bench. Sees his dad. Then his mom beside him. And when his voice returns at the end — "Every family has heroes. Ours has the best ones" — not as faith, but as a choice — that's the Pixar moment. He sees both parents now.