Owen Suskind, a bright kid at three, developed autism and withdrew from the world. His parents had given up hope of him ever reconnecting when a few years later they heard him repeating a line of dialogue from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Turns out he was using the story lines from Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin, etc. to create a way to understand his own world.

Now 23 (at filming), he is living in his own apartment, has a job, and has delivered an address to an international symposium in France. His latest lesson, however, is that real life situations don’t always have happy endings, and the future remains uncertain.

But before you get too smug, Disney, this would never have happened without the incredible amounts of love, patience and understanding supplied by his parents.

His story is told in an emotionally honest, fascinating blend of documentary and animation. An optimistic and truly inspirational film for anyone at all involved with autism. Or make that anyone at all. (92 min)