Adam

Adam Raki lives alone in New York, designs electronic toys and has Asperger's syndrome. His father has just died. Beth moves into the flat upstairs. A relationship begins, but Adam's inability to read social signals intervenes at every step. The subject is not romance but whether one person can carry another's needs. Beth loves Adam and only gradually understands what living with him would mean. The most honest thing about the film is its ending, which refuses to be a story of recovery or of fitting in. The form is small and quiet: two flats, a park, a few job interviews. The camera does not try to imitate Adam's perception; it watches him from outside. The film reached audiences at Sundance in 2009 and won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, awarded to films that handle science and technology well. Hugh Dancy met people working in the field to prepare, and specialists advised the production. Even so, it was criticised for a portrayal that is too tidy and too endearing. Max Mayer directs. Rose Byrne plays Beth and Peter Gallagher her father. Who it is for: viewers who like small-scale American independent relationship films. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a happy ending; the film deliberately refuses to settle the relationship anywhere easy.