Sundance 2016 – Life, Animated

My first film of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival was as good of a start to the festival that I could ask for. Life, Animated is a movie that brings out every emotion a human being has, which leads to one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had at the festival.

Life, Animated is a documentary about Owen Suskind, an autistic boy who overcame his challenges by learning how to read, talk, and understand human emotion from animated Disney movies.

This is a remarkable story and director Roger Ross Williams gives us a very intimate and enlighting look into Owen’s life, as well as his family.  Every emotion Owen feels, we feel. We feel Owen’s pain when he talks about being bullied in school and our hearts burst with joy when a special guest shows up to Owen’s weekly Disney Club, where he and other autistic men and women watch and discuss Disney animated classics.

Life, Animated succeeds as an eye opener to autism. I did not know a lot about autism or people with autism, but this really opened my eyes to different types of autism and gives us a great look at how the autistic mind works.

This is also a testament to the power of film. Owen learned how to live a normal life and function in the real word because of movies. He overcame his fears and disabilities because of these stories and characters. If this doesn’t prove movies are more than entertainment, I don’t know what will.

If Life, Animated is any indicator of how the 2016 Sundance Film Festival is going to be, it might be the best fest yet. It is a sweet, funny, sad, moving, well-told documentary and a great way to start the festival.

MY RATING – 4/4

Follow me through out the entire Sundance Film Festival on Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook at Kevflix.