Movies about autism spectrum disorder- Mental Health Related Films

Human lives and behaviour are far more nuanced and emotive than any psychiatric diagnostic system or symptom checklist can ever portray.

Most people recognise aspects of themselves in at least a few psychiatric diagnostic categories. The difference between normal and disorder is not straightforward and often has more to do with degree rather than kind, i.e. does it cause big problems?

While movies are not perfect depictions of reality, they often present themes in relatable, enriching, usefully challenging, and thought-provoking ways.

We invite you to explore mental health through movies that raise awareness, open dialogue, present complexity, entertain, and/or normalise experiences.

Click to see the Ultimate List of Mental Health Movies index

What is Autism spectrum disorder?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental diagnosis that affects speech, communication, and behaviour of a person.

Autism spectrum disorder is usually first diagnosed in early childhood. Persons with the disorder often have problems with social, emotional, and communication skills. The learning, thinking, and problem-solving abilities of a person with ASD can range from gifted to severely challenged.

Autism differs from person to person. Treatments and services can improve a person’s symptoms and ability to function.

DSM-V Diagnostic Criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder 299.00 (F84.0)| Provided for educational purposes

A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history:

1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.

2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviours used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures: to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.

3. Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behaviour to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to the absence of interest in peers.

B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):

1. Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypies, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases).

2. Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualised patterns of verbal or nonverbal behaviour (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take the same route or eat the same food every day).

3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g., strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).

4. Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g., apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement).

C. Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life).

D. Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.

E. These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay. Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur; to make comorbid diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, social communication should be below that expected for general developmental level.

Movies about Autism spectrum disorder

If we missed an essential film about autism spectrum disorder, please let us know. We would love to include it.

Note: Movies may trigger painful memories and emotions. Please use your judgement and ensure support is available if need be.

Movie Title: The Unbreakable Boy

Release:

Rated:

Cast: Zachary Levi, Amy Acker, Meghann Fahy

Storyline: A little boy with brittle bone condition and autism. But what genuinely distinguishes him is his joyful, hilarious, life-affirming worldview, which transforms and connects everyone around him.

Movie Title: Pablo (TV Series)

Release: 2017-2020

Rated: 7.8

Cast: Sumita Majumdar, Rachael Dickson, Jake Williamson

Storyline: Pablo, a boy with autism, draws animal friends to help him get through the challenges of daily life.

Movie Title: Please Stand By - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2017

Rated: 6.7

Cast: Dakota Fanning, Alice Eve, Toni Collette

Storyline: A young woman with autism runs away from her caregiver in an attempt to submit her 500-page manuscript to a "Star Trek" writing competition at Paramount Pictures.

Movie Title: Nathan's Kingdom - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2020

Rated: 5.1

Cast: Madison Ford, Jacob Lince, Peter Mendoza

Storyline: Nathan, a young man with autism, along with his opiate-addicted sister Laura, embarks on a perilous journey to find a mythical kingdom that holds the potential to transform their lives forever.

Movie Title: Jack of the Red Hearts - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2015

Rated: 7.0

Cast: AnnaSophia Robb, Famke Janssen, Scott Cohen

Storyline: A desperate 18-year-old girl poses as a caregiver for a child with autism named Coke in order to gain guardianship, leading them on a transformative journey of family, inclusion, and understanding.

Movie Title: Killer Diller

Release: 2004

Rated: 6.7

Cast: Lucas Black, William Lee Scott, Fred Willard

Storyline: A guitar playing car thief meets an autistic savant pianist, and together they transform a group of reluctant halfway house convicts into The Killer Diller Blues Band.

Movie Title: Atypical (TV Series)

Release: 2017-2021

Rated: 8.2

Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Keir Gilchrist, Brigette Lundy-Paine

Storyline: Sam, an autistic 18-year-old, believes it's time to find a girlfriend, which starts Sam's mother on her own life-changing road as her son seeks more freedom.

Movie Title: The Good Doctor (TV Series) - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2017

Rated: 8.0

Cast: Freddie Highmore, Hill Harper, Richard Schiff

Storyline: Dr. Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and Savant syndrome, navigates his residency at a prestigious hospital, showcasing his exceptional medical talents and challenging societal perceptions of autism.

Movie Title: The A Word (TV Series) - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2016

Rated: 7.8

Cast: Max Vento, Lee Ingleby, Christopher Eccleston

Storyline: The Hughes family, like any other, works, loves, and fights. Then their youngest son is diagnosed with autism, and they no longer feel like any other family.

Movie Title: Loving Lampposts - Watch now on Prime

Date Release: 2010

Rate: 7.8

Cast: Nadine Antonelli, Simon Baron-Cohen, Billy

Storyline: A documentary film about a little boy who has autism spectrum disorder. The film explores the views of neurodiversity advocates and autistic activists on autism.

Movie Title: Float

Date Release: 2019

Rate: 7.4

Cast: Eli Fucile, Bobby Rubio, Luna Watson

Storyline: An American animated short film that raises autism spectrum disorder awareness. The story focuses on how the father accepts his son who is different from the other children.

Movie Title: Rain Man - Watch now on Prime

Date Release: 1988

Rate: 8

Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise

Storyline: A car dealer who has a narcissistic personality disorder learns that he has an elder brother with autism and that his father left his estate, in his will, to the institution where his brother stays.

Movie Title: What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Watch now on Prime

Release: 1993

Rate: 7.8

Cast: Johhny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio

Storyline: A young man who juggles multiple responsibilities, such as taking care of his obese mother and his brother with autism, faces another struggle as he tries to pursue happiness with a girl stuck in his town.

Movie Title: Mozart and the Whale - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2005

Rate: 7

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Radha Mitchell

Storyline: Two people with a type of autism, called Asperger's Syndrome, form a self-help group but struggle as their dysfunctions ruin their relationship.

Movie Title: The Boy Who Could Fly - Watch now on Prime

Release: 1986

Rate: 6.4

Cast: Lucy Deakins, Jay Underwood, Bonnie Bedelia

Storyline: Eric, a boy with autism, befriends his new neighbour, Milly, whose dad had recently passed away. Eric and Milly find ways to cope with their grief and pain as they fly to faraway places.

Movie Title: House of Cards - Watch now on Prime

Release: 1993

Rate: 6.2

Cast: Kathleen Turner, Tommy Lee Jones, Asha Menina

Storyline: After her husband's death, her daughter was behaving unusually. She decides to see an expert in child autism to help her understand the strange things her daughter does.

Movie Title: Cube - Watch now on Prime

Release: 1997

Rate: 7.3

Cast: Nicole De Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett

Storyline: Several strangers awaken in a prison of cubic cells. Each one of them is gifted with a special skill. One of them is Kazan, a savant with autism. They must work together to escape the maze.

Movie Title: Mercury Rising - Watch now on Prime

Release: 1998

Rate: 6.1

Cast: Bruce Willis, Miko Hughes, Alec Baldwin

Storyline: FBI agent Art Jeffries protects a boy with autism whose life is at threat after breaking a secret government code.

Movie Title: Miracle Run - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2004

Rate: 7.6

Cast: Mary-Louise Parker, Aidan Quinn, Zac Efron

Storyline: A mother struggles as she raises her two children diagnosed with autism. The two children prove that they can also do what others can do.

Movie Title: Snow Cake - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2006

Rate: 7.6

Cast: Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Ann Moss

Storyline: A man picks up a young hitchhiker who needs a rider to her hometown. Both of them are involved in an accident that kills the young hitchhiker. The man survives and continues to the girl's hometown to tell her mother, who has autism, of her daughter's death.

Movie Title: Her Name is Sabine - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2007

Rate: 7.6

Cast: Sabine Bonnaire

Storyline: A documentary made by Sandrine about her sister who has autism. The documentary helps individuals to understand what people with this kind of disability need.

Movie Title: The Black Balloon - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2008

Rate: 7.3

Cast: Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Toni Collette

Storyline: A teenager who wants to live a normal teen life struggles as he has to keep up with his brother with autism and his relationship with his girlfriend.

Movie Title: Adam - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2009

Rate: 7.2

Cast: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher

Storyline: A writer, damaged from a past relationship meets a man who has a type of autism called Asperger's syndrome. The two develop a relationship.

Movie Title: Mary and Max - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2009

Rate: 8.2

Cast: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Storyline: Mary struggles with bullying from her unwanted birthmark on the forehead. Max is an obese man with a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome. Both enter a pen-pal friendship by supporting each other for almost 20 years.

Movie Title: My Name is Khan (Hindi, Urdu, English) - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2010

Rate: 8

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Sheetal Menon

Storyline: A high-functioning Indian Muslim with a form of autism called Asperger's syndrome is arrested mistakenly as a terrorist because of his peculiar behaviour. He wants to prove that not all Muslims are terrorists by meeting the US president.

Movie Title: Ocean Heaven (Chinese) - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2010

Rate: 7.6

Cast: Jet Li, Zhang Wen, Lun Mei Gwei

Storyline: The story is about a growing relationship between a father and his son. As the father has only a few months left to live, he does his very best to teach his son (who has autism) how to live life and survive without him.

Movie Title: Temple Grandin - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2010

Rate: 8.4

Cast: Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, David Strathairn

Storyline: A woman with autism overcomes the hindrances inflicted by her mental illness to become a successful scientist and expert in the field of Animal Husbandry.

Movie Title: Exodus Fall

Release: 2011

Rate: 7.4

Cast: Jesse James, Rosanna Arquette, Adrian, Finkel

Storyline: Three siblings have to live with their abusive mother after their father dies. The two teens are on a mission to get back their younger brother with autism, who is sent to an institution by their mother.

Movie Title: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Release: 2011

Rate: 6.9

Cast: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock

Storyline: A boy with a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome goes on an adventure as he tries to find out the riddle of the message his dad left before dying.

Movie Title: Fly Away - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2011

Rate: 6.1

Cast: Beth Broderick, Ashley Rickards, Aramazd Stepanian

Storyline: A story of a mother who struggles a lot raising her child with severe autism. As her daughter grows, it becomes harder for her to keep in control of her child. The time comes for her to figure out what's best for both of them.

Movie Title: NightLights - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2014

Rate: 7.4

Cast: Shawna Waldron, Stephen Louis Grush, Kate Black-Spence

Storyline: A young girl, whose brother is severely affected by autism, strives for the best life she wants for both of them while struggling with her friendships and relationship.

Movie Title: The Story of Luke - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2012

Rate: 7.2

Cast: Lou Taylor Pucci, Jayne Eastwood, Pan Hyatt

Storyline: A young man with autism starts to find a job and a girl to love as his grandfather told him to do.

Movie Title: The Imitation Game - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2014

Rate: 8.1

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode

Storyline: A British mathematician who has symptoms of autism joins the cryptography team to crack Nazi codes. He builds a machine to crack the code.

Movie Title: A Brilliant Young Mind - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2015

Rate: 7.2

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Rafe Spall, Sally Hawkins

Storyline: A math genius struggles a lot to communicate with others but he later develops a friendship with a young girl while competing at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

Movie Title: Barfi! (Hindi) - Watch now on Prime

Release: 2012

Rate: 8.2

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana

Storyline: A young man born deaf and mute has two special women in his life that turns his world upside down. One is his almost lover who got married to another guy and one is his childhood friend with autism that is now his wife.

References and Links

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

What is Autism?: https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism .

Types of Autism Spectrum Disorders: https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-spectrum-disorders

More on Autism spectrum disorder: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html

Autism spectrum disorder according to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum

Acknowledgements

The above article was written under my close direction and supervision. However, much credit goes to Charlene Poliquit (my right-hand man) and Andri Eigenberger (my beloved aunt) for their huge efforts in bringing this task to life.

Vincenzo Sinisi