The Horse Boy
The Horse Boy
| 25 November 2009 (USA)
The Horse Boy Trailers

Filmmaker Michel Orion Scott captures a magical journey into a little-known world, in a documentary which chronicles Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff's personal odyssey to make sense of their child's autism, and find healing for him and themselves in the unlikeliest of places.

Reviews
Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
Inmechon The movie's only flaw is also a virtue: It's jammed with characters, stories, warmth and laughs.
FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
ynoel-2 it's slightly odd that i even feel the need to write this... it's about Mr 'rick James' review above. I have nothing to do with anything or anyone in the film, or even autism. I guess I enjoyed the film, especially the Mongolian landscapes. What, on the other hand, struck me as I read that review was how simply deranged he sounded. Having serious personal issues is one thing, but not taming them and then going so far as to write such a pretentious review, wreaking of self-importance and instability like this one, is another thing. I guess I write this as I sometimes tire of fully grown 'normal' people, so clearly suffering from issues they choose to ignore, and who confuse their need to expiate personal venom with a 'review'. It sounds grotesque, and helps no one to understand anything about the film - more about the author's instabilities. In passing, I congratulate the filmmakers on a well made and touching near-zero budget film. We'd be so much poorer if we didn't have such people making these films.
Rick James This film is not about autism, it is about selfish self-absorption of adults. The very idea that a mentally retarded child can be brought out of his delirium by a bunch of witch doctors with no scientific training and no verifiable results is ridiculous. One commentator states clearly it that these selfish parents fit a pattern of despair that leads those in this situation to resort to any extreme, and taking a helpless child to Mongolia to "cure" him instead of to a farm in upstate New York to meet animals is shameful and unforgivable. Why did they make this movie at all? Simply to conclude the exploitation of this helpless child. Forgive them.
Shobwinny Desplain Happiness, love and understanding!This film brings the beautiful message that the autistic can and will be cured by physical exercise. We all know it's true, and it is wonderful to see depicted in real life. The young boy's turnaround is nothing short of a miracle.The boy rides the horse. He commutes with the goat. He speaks to the chicken.You must take your children to Siberia. Autism, cancer, all will be cured by the horse and the goat. The chicken, not so much.Scientology? No, Science: Totally.
Toadinthehole This is an excellent documentary with a message about the need for diversity in which an autistic boy with a love of animals is the main focus.A young couple and their autistic four year old boy Rowan take a pilgrimage to a sacred lake at the heart of the great Mongolian Plain where tradition has it, shamans still practice ancient healing rituals that may help heal their son of his autism. Rowan seems keen enough, but are they barking up the wrong tree? As we take the journey with them so we start to understand what the boy's parents are really up against. Who are they and why are they making such a public show of their autistic son? Do they have something important to say to justify their family adventure? The answer is yes.Their energy, determination and openness throughout the whole film is spoken to a friendly and compassionate camera and having previously documented the plight of the Bushmen, Rowan's father is clearly going to be in his element. But is it just another documentary for him? Rowan's father is clearly on familiar territory as a journalist having previously visited remote tribes and other remote parts of the world, but here he is completely unable to walk away from the subject matter like any other a job; here his hands are tied. Why are we doing it? How will it end? Are we crazy subjecting ourselves and our son to such(public) expectations? We share their doubt.For me the wild landscape of the high Mongolian Plain captured perfectly the wilderness and inner vulnerability of dealing with autism in the modern world. From start to finish one wonders where will it end and marvels at how Rowan's parents cope. Amazing stamina but sustained by true love and compassion.The films greatest strength is its vulnerability; for this is no easy fiction. A film which could so easily have fallen into the modern day pit of an obsession for awkward personal exposure resounds with love where personal revelation reaches far wider and may touch you as much as it did me.Well paced and nicely edited this is a motion picture about autism that had to be made and has to be seen, that puts the vital worth back into autism as part of the greater diversity of our expansive human soul.