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Sep 10, 2015 By Jason Wilson Web Exclusive

The tale of gifted youth navigating the complicated waters of adolescence into adulthood is a well-trodden one. It’s a variation of the coming of age film that often ups the ante by adding complications to the hero to build extra tension and stakes. It is a very difficult aspect to hit without coming across as emotionally manipulative or contrived. Fortunately, A Brilliant Young Mind plays out with such bald earnestness that any of its shortcomings are not major detractors.

Nathan (Asa Butterfield) is on the autism spectrum. The only language he seems to fully engage with is mathematics. His father, the only other human who can communicate with Nathan effectively, dies in a car accident early in the film. This leaves his mother Julie (Sally Hawkins) to raise him with a cocktail of bewilderment, sadness, and frustration. Nathan trains for a math competition with the help of troubled teacher, and former math prodigy Martin (Rafe Spall) whose issues with multiple sclerosis has left him hobbled. Nathan travels to Taiwan for math camp, and to compete with other like-minded youths for a spot at International Mathematics Olympiad.

That’s a lot of plot. Much of the story takes place in Taiwan where Nathan interacts with a host of other youth, something that has come very awkwardly to him in the past. It doesn’t get much better here, but through his silence he is somewhat accepted. He freezes in social situations. The opposite is true for one of his counterparts in camp, Luke (Jake Davies). The film tries to draw parallels between the two, and does so fairly well. Luke is more brash. He is outspoken, and critical of others. He’s also the most curious and magnetic of all the characters in the film. While Butterfield does well being mostly understated, he sometimes comes across as a bit of a blank slate. Davies, however, builds layers on his character. He’s annoying, as intended, and then he’s heartbreaking. And then his story is over.

That’s probably the biggest problem here. Director Morgan Matthews and writer James Graham set up so many subplots that could have been the focal point it can distract from Nathan’s own arc. Despite this, the film is satisfying with its relationships, especially between Nathan and his love interest, Zhang Mei (Jo Yang).

A Brilliant Young Mind is familiar, but it is a story that is mostly well told and never dull. It’s a bit scattershot but never distracting. And the theme of not allowing one’s issues being definitive of identity is well communicated. A fine movie that comes close to touching greatness in places.

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Author rating: 7.5/10