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This riveting and intensely atmospheric documentary is about a group of non-speaking autistic teens who, instead of giving up on neurotypicals, have found new ways to reach out and touch them.
My 16 year old daughter has Autistic Spectrum Disorder and, even though she’s high-functioning, I don’t need to be told how how cruel, stupid and generally non-empathetic so-called normal people can be when faced by difference. What’s nifty about the film is that it works whether you know tons or zilch about autism. Either way, you’ll be wowed by Naoki, Amrit, Joss, Ben and Jestina.
In 2007, Naoki Higashida used an alphabet grid to explain what made his thirteen year-old self tick and the book that contained his effortlessly poetic musings eventually became an acclaimed, if controversial, bestseller. Higashida is now a camera-shy adult and in the film he’s embodied by a lovely young actor, Jim Fujiwara.
If Higashida’s sensory adventures provide the film with its core, the other stories here are just as extraordinary. Artist Amrit, from Noida, India, is especially fascinating. A school of thought says autism isn’t a real condition and is caused by middle-class, molly-coddling parents who hot-house their kids into a state of molten hysteria. Amrit’s vivid and intricate paintings are indeed a pushy-parent’s dream come true, but Amrit wasn’t prodded into anything and, in a heart-breaking scene, her mother berates herself for being embarrassed by Amrit’s obsessions and spending years trying to make Amrit conform - “I’ve tried to stop her from being herself.”
Director Jerry Rothwell doesn’t romanticise what it means to be neuro-diverse and conveys how exhausting (and, in some cases, scary) it is to combat myths concerning those on the spectrum. That said, the film’s sense of fun keeps spilling over, which is bound to improve its chances at the box office. The courage and stamina of these supposedly unlucky teens will make you want to jump. For joy.
82mins, cert 12A. In cinemas from June 18