The film showcases a culturally diverse group of Australian men aged 12 to 75 coming together in a community hall, like members of an AA group attending a meeting. Eddie - a hard looking man in his fifties with pain showing in his eyes, hesitantly begins to sing the words to Boys Do Cry - an anthem to help stop male suicide. The song is an adaptation, with new lyrics of The Cure’s iconic Boys Don’t Cry. Gradually, more and more men from the group lend their voices to the singing, and the performance becomes increasingly impassioned. As the song nears its conclusion, we return to Eddie, who - having shared his feelings and connected with others - has a new sense of peace in his features, a gentle smile in his eyes. The film concludes with the line: WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, GET TALKING.

Australia is facing a mental health epidemic, and men in particular are doing it tough. Statistics show that 1 in 8 Australian men will experience depression in their lifetime and 1 in 5 will suffer from anxiety. But men are notoriously reluctant to reach out for help and talk about their feelings when they’re struggling. Instead, they try to “man up” and keep their problems to themselves. The consequences of this are horrifying: every day in Australia an average of seven men take their own life. Suicide is in fact the leading cause of death in men aged 15 to 49, making male suicide Australia’s #1 male public health problem.

To engage men on the uncomfortable subject of their feelings, we turned to music as a medium through which - whether it’s rock n roll or rowdy football songs - men are more comfortable expressing emotion. With Robert Smith’s blessing, we transformed the Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry into Boys Do Cry - an anthem to help stop male suicide. We retained the original melody, arranged with a single piano, and recorded the song with a culturallty diverse group of Australian men aged 12-75. The rewritten lyrics express the themes of the Boys do Cry campaign, giving men permission to be vulnerable and urging them to share their feelings and reach out for help when suffering with mental health issues. Australian aboriginal recording artist Dallas Woods contributed a rap inspired by his first hand experiences in his community in which the suicide rate is notoriously high.