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Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

The Horse Boy

THE HORSE BOY (Michel O. Scott). 93 minutes. Some subtitles. Opens Friday (November 13). For venues, times, and trailers, see Movies. Rating: NNN


How much do we really know about autism? Can shamans from other cultures heal the syndrome – or any other for that matter? When is a horse a healer?[rssbreak]

The Horse Boy attempts to answer those questions in a compelling though conventionally shot documentary that features autism experts but mostly tracks one family’s astonishing journey.

By the time Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff’s son Rowan was diagnosed with autism at age two, he had already begun to retreat into his own world – when he wasn’t in full tantrum mode. But when Rupert, a skilled horseman, decides to place his howling four year-old on the mare Betsy, a calm falls over the boy. He even begins to speak.

This inspires Rupert to take his family to a shamanic meeting, and then on a horse ride through Mongolia from shaman to shaman – sometimes a harrowing journey – and to Russia to find the reindeer herders.

In the end, we don’t know much more about autism, but you’d be hard pressed to find Rowan’s amazing transformation a mere coincidence. And the horse? It’s not clear if it’s the animal or Rowan who’s got the gift.

Ultimately, though, the most inspiring thing in the film is the staggering love these parents show for their boy.

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