I’ve been following the young British actor Asa Butterfield online. One day, he posted something about his new movie on his Twitter 
account. The title of the movie is “X+Y“, also known as “A Brilliant Young Mind” in the US. It is actually a British drama film directed by Morgan Matthews that was first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, 2014. It was then released in the UK on March 13, 2015. On the day it was released for the first time, I was kind of sad because I couldn’t watch the film yet. To remind you guys, I live here in the Philippines and there was no way for me to watch the film in sync with those who were in Toronto.
Since I couldn’t do anything about not being able to watch the film, I just entertained myself by watching the official trailer, by reading the movie reviews and by visiting the film’s official website to look at the photo gallery. I patiently waited for the day that I could finally watch the whole movie. And–
Fortunately, I was able to find a way yesterday and yes, I was extremely ecstatic that I literally jumped for joy.
You might wonder why I was so excited and why I really wanted to watch this film. First reason: Asa Butterfield. Ha. ‘Nuff said. Nah, just kidding. (But he’s definitely one of the reasons, to be honest.) Actually, I find the story really interesting. In case you haven’t clicked the hyperlinks yet, let me give you a bit of information with regards to what this film is all about.
The film focuses on a socially awkward teenager, an English Mathematics prodigy named Nathan Ellis (Asa Butterfield). When he was still a kid, he was diagnosed with autism. He had a hard time interacting with people as well as understanding them. But what makes him special is that he finds comfort in numbers. He’s incredibly good when it comes to Mathematics and so, he landed a spot on the UK National team at the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO).
The team went to a training camp in Taiwan. Each of them had a Chinese counterpart and for Nathan, it’s the lovely and clever Zhang Mei (Jo Yang). As the days went on, he developed unfamiliar feelings for his partner. He felt odd and he wanted to understand what was happening to him. He wanted to know what is love, and if there’s a formula for it.
What I like about this film is that it shows us that even people who were diagnosed with autism have the capability to grow up normally and learn how to interact with people. Some of us may find them a bit strange. Some of us may not be able to understand them at first– how they act, what they do, etc. But they can prove to us that they are also gifted with talents and skills. Some of them are even smarter than normal people. So let’s just appreciate and respect each one of them.
Hey, daydreamer~ 