Life, Animated

Owen Suskind stopped speaking at three. He was diagnosed with autism and for years the family could not reach him. Then they noticed something: the boy had memorised Disney animations and was speaking by using their lines. The family tried that way; his father took a puppet and began talking in the voice of the character from the film, and Owen answered. The documentary follows the present: Owen is in his twenties, moving into his own flat, working and in a relationship. Roger Ross Williams directs. The documentary dates from 2016. Its source is a book by Owen's father Ron Suskind, a journalist who wrote about the process. It won a directing award at Sundance and was nominated for best documentary at the Oscars. The narrative uses animation in two ways: passages from the Disney films, and drawings prepared specially for a story Owen wrote himself. The real matter it treats is independence; the narrative does not build a success story and shows what Owen cannot do as well. The section on a separation is the hardest part and the narrative softens nothing there. Those who criticised its approach said the film presents a single case in a way that invites generalisation. Who it is for: people who watch family documentary and narratives about autism. Who it is not for: the emotional register is high, the narrative is limited to one family, and some sections run long.