Mission To Lars
Directed by James Moore & Will Spicer
Starring Tom Spicer, Will Spicer, Kate Spicer
Spicer Moore Films
Released 6 June, 2012 (Limited UK & U.S.)

Ground control
To Major Tom
Commencing countdown
Engines on

Metallica. One of the biggest metal bands on the planet. Surrounded by layers of PR, management, assistants, groupies and crew. Everyone one wants a slice of the four piece from “˜Frisco.

In the bedroom of his West Country home Tom Spicer proudly wears his Metallica t-shirts, collects their music and head-bangs along to it (“Enter Sandman” is his favourite), but Tom is not your average metal head. Tom has Fragile X syndrome, a condition described by his sister Kate Spicer as “autism with bells on.” For the last twenty years Tom has made his dream clear to his family telling them regularly, “Wanna meet Lars, wanna meet Lars.” Lars Ulrich is of course Metallica’s drummer and Mission To Lars, directed by James Moore and Tom’s younger brother Will Spicer, documents the Spicer siblings embarking on a road trip so that Tom can meet his hero.

“We realized very early on that Tom is much more unpredictable than any rock star.” Kate Spicer is talking about her brother and focus of her feature documentary. Made alongside their brother Will, Mission To Lars is their story of trying to set up a meeting between Tom and his hero, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Tom has Fragile X syndrome, a condition described by Kate in the trailer as “autism with bells on” which created massive challenges for all of them.

Before she found herself adding Filmmaker to her business card, Kate was a lifestyle journalist; far from the heavy metal junkie she had to become. In a surprisingly honest interview, Kate talked to me about those challenges in making the film, our culture’s attitude to people with learning disabilities, and her relationship with her brothers.

Geeks of Doom: Are you excited for people to see the film now it’s finished?

Kate Spicer: Excited isn’t the word because we’re doing so much of this on our own, which means there’s quite a lot to worry about. I enjoy a lot of it in hindsight, but I feel like if I stop to enjoy it, it will all go wrong!

Tom Spicer is fanatical about Metallica. During the day he makes animal bedding out of recycled materials, but it is after work that he gets to indulge in his favorite band, in particular verbose drummer Lars Ulrich. For years all Tom has ever wanted is to meet Lars and hence the name of the documentary: Mission To Lars.

What makes this such an interesting looking film is that not only does Spicer live in England – and Lars Ulrich thousands of miles away – but he has Fragile X syndrome, a kind of “autism with bells on” is the description from Tom’s sister in the trailer. But more than just a road movie about a man wanting to meet his hero, Mission To Lars is also a story of sibling love and trying to rekindle that.