The Horse Boy

Rowan Isaacson is a four year-old boy,who has to live with a severe form of Autism. His parents are at wits end with his uncontrollable fits of screaming and crying and carrying on. During a walk with his Father (Rupert Isaacson),he bonds with an old horse,owned by their next door neighbour. Rupert gets the idea of taking his family to Mongolia to have his son healed by tribal Shamans (spiritual healers). It seems like the trip may be a failure from the start,but things begin to happen to Rowan (and the rest of the family,which also includes Rowan's Mother,Kristin Neff as well). First time director,Michel O.Scott (who also photographed & edited this documentary)went along to record the proceedings. The documentary video (shot on HD video)has some real nice scenic photography of the rugged,untamed countryside of Mongolia. We get to see some of the healing rituals of the tribal Shamans (which I really admired,as this culture is pretty much a mystery to most Westerners). This documentary isn't perfect,but still well worth checking out (my only two quirks I could have easily lived without are the occasional sojourns into toilet training,as Rowan had a real incontinence problem,which is rather graphically depicted on screen,plus the music score tended to feature some schmaltzy,New Age drone,rather than some Tuvan throat singers,which I would have much preferred). Not rated by the MPAA,but contains some brief strong language & some unnecessary gastric accidents from young Rowan that could have been left on the cutting room floor

please correct your information on this film, it's shot in Mongolia, not "Inner" Mongolia, a province of China. It's great that the Isaacson's can exploit their son's mental condition to make a movie, but spare us the New Age bull about shamanism. Both parents come across as so self-absorbed that it's no wonder that the kid has tantrums. I'm sure that the parents of children with mental disabilities must wonder how these unlikeable people get to perform for profit. Did Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr. Grinker and the other talking heads really know how silly this movie was going to be. Why did they lend their names and reputations to this?

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.

There is no proof given as to whether or not the child was truly autistic or if he was being exploited for the family to write and produce a film for their 15 minutes of fame. For anyone who has had multiple children, these tantrums could simply be the result of parents who can't connect, are not getting the right help or providing the right resources. As for the a shaman healing a child, or horses bringing clarity, the idea has merit but how and why he chose to do this was not well established. It made for a fun to watch film but left me with so many unanswered questions afterwards that I realized I may have been taken.

This story brings hope to all of us parents of children with Autism... It is honest and full of hope. Autism shouldn't mean that we can't have a life - it should bring us hope and adventure... The professionals who took part in the interviews for the movie did so with open minds. Temple Grandin is fantastic and makes me believe that my son can do anything he chooses if I can help him to do it - I have read all of her books too and to know that she was behind Ru and Kristin on this adventure is great. This book and movie changed my life and the lives of my partner and kids. Thank you Ru, for all you have done for us - you are truly inspirational and a very wonderful friend.