Hold your horses! We’re all autistic.

The causes and cures for Autism are as debatable as the credentials of many of those that chime in. However, if we can all agree that Autism traverses a spectrum, let’s acknowledge that means we’re all on it, even if at its farthest reaches. Thus, it is reasonable that we are all invested in understanding Autism’s true nature and the implications of the dramatic increase in its occurrence/diagnosis. THE HORSE BOY cannot explain why Autism exists, but offers arguable hope for dealing with its impact.

Young Rowan Isaacson was virtually unreachable until he escaped to a neighbor’s farm and mounted an old mare. His immediate, obvious and calming bond with the horse propelled his parents, Rupert and Kristen, to journey with their son to Mongolia to visit with wild horses and wily shamans. The trip is as cinematic as it is inconclusive, but it is this majestic trajectory and very indefinite messaging, ultimately, that is the documentary’s strength. Rowan’s parents are convinced the emotionally exhausting trek was beneficial; others suggest that THE HORSE BOY’s improvement may be purely coincidental. It’s a conflict of correlation versus causality with the viewer left to draw their own conclusions. What is certain is that parental care and others’ acceptance is as pertinent in the response to Autism as shamanistic rituals and Western medical intervention.

THE HORSE BOY offers editorial insights from Temple Grandin, Roy Richard Grinker and Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen. (Yup, related. He’s Sacha’s cousin.) I, for one, don’t believe Autism need be cured, just better understood. Perhaps it is an evolutionary “advancement,” a mutative adjustment to our changing society in which more and more people turn inwards, whether by genetic design or social media. (Consider the predictive experimentations of the Asperger’-addled Josh Harris documented in WE LIVE IN PUBLIC.) Or, perhaps it is a defensive upgrade to cope with a progressively dispassionate world. Either way, we gain nothing by denying Autism’s existence and have much to learn by accepting our own placement on its spectrum.

BONUS: For an earnest, elegant depiction of Asperger’s, check out the fictional feature, ADAM, headlined by Hugh Dancy, whose title performance ought be Oscar®-nominated though, sadly, is likely to be forgotten by awards season.