Autism on the screen
by TressaD | created - 20 Dec 2013 | updated - 20 Dec 2013 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Boy Who Could Fly (1986)
PG | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An autistic boy who dreams of flying touches everyone he meets, including a new family who has moved in after their father dies.
Director: Nick Castle | Stars: Lucy Deakins, Jay Underwood, Bonnie Bedelia, Fred Savage
Votes: 6,516 | Gross: $7.18M
2. Snow Cake (2006)
Not Rated | 112 min | Drama, Romance
A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.
Director: Marc Evans | Stars: Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Hampshire
Votes: 13,266 | Gross: $0.03M
3. Miracle Run (2004 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 120 min | Biography, Drama
A mom is alone with her fraternal twin sons after they're diagnosed with autism. She tries to give them a normal childhood.
Director: Gregg Champion | Stars: Mary-Louise Parker, Aidan Quinn, Zac Efron, Bubba Lewis
Votes: 1,666
4. The Black Balloon (2008)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Romance
All Thomas wants is a normal adolescence but his autistic brother, Charlie, thwarts his every opportunity. Will Thomas, with the help of his girlfriend, Jackie, accept his brother?
Director: Elissa Down | Stars: Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Toni Collette, Erik Thomson
Votes: 9,234 | Gross: $0.09M
5. Mozart and the Whale (2005)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love story between two savants with Asperger's syndrome, a kind of autism, whose conditions sabotage their budding relationship.
Director: Petter Næss | Stars: Josh Hartnett, Radha Mitchell, Gary Cole, Sheila Kelley
Votes: 9,294 | Gross: $0.04M
6. Adam (I) (2009)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.
Director: Max Mayer | Stars: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving
Votes: 35,768 | Gross: $2.28M
7. Cries from the Heart (1994 TV Movie)
93 min | Drama
Michael, a young autistic boy who has trouble with verbalization but a real talent for technology, uses a computer to plead for help after being molested at his school.
Director: Michael Switzer | Stars: Patty Duke, Melissa Gilbert, Bradley Pierce, Markus Flanagan
Votes: 320
8. My Name Is Khan (2010)
PG-13 | 165 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
An Indian Muslim man with Asperger's syndrome takes a challenge to speak to the President of the United States seriously and embarks on a cross-country journey.
Director: Karan Johar | Stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Sheetal Menon, Katie Amanda Keane
Votes: 116,348 | Gross: $4.02M
9. Molly (1999)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A bachelor becomes the unwilling guardian of his autistic, intellectually disabled sister; then an experimental treatment works a dramatic change in her brain and his attitude.
Director: John Duigan | Stars: Elisabeth Shue, Aaron Eckhart, Jill Hennessy, Thomas Jane
Votes: 3,136 | Gross: $0.02M
10. Autism: The Musical (2007)
TV-14 | 94 min | Documentary, Music
Follows five autistic children as they work together to create and perform a live musical production.
Director: Tricia Regan | Stars: Hillary Aaron, Joe Aaron, Lexi Aaron, Adam
Votes: 764
11. Silent Fall (1994)
R | 101 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An autistic boy witnesses his parents' double murder. A controversial therapist seeks to probe the child's mind in order to solve the case.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Linda Hamilton, John Lithgow, J.T. Walsh
Votes: 4,886 | Gross: $3.18M
12. Mercury Rising (1998)
R | 111 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Shadowy elements in the NSA target a nine-year old autistic savant for death when he is able to decipher a top secret code.
Director: Harold Becker | Stars: Bruce Willis, Miko Hughes, Alec Baldwin, Chi McBride
Votes: 77,553 | Gross: $32.94M
13. David's Mother (1994 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 92 min | Drama
A woman estranged from her husband and family insists on caring for her autistic son alone.
Director: Robert Allan Ackerman | Stars: Kirstie Alley, Sam Waterston, Stockard Channing, Michael A. Goorjian
Votes: 380
14. I Am Sam (2001)
PG-13 | 132 min | Drama
An intellectually disabled man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family.
Director: Jessie Nelson | Stars: Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 155,284 | Gross: $40.31M
15. The Other Sister (1999)
PG-13 | 129 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A mentally challenged young woman seeks independence by obtaining her own apartment and attending college while her family plans her sister's wedding.
Director: Garry Marshall | Stars: Juliette Lewis, Diane Keaton, Giovanni Ribisi, Tom Skerritt
Votes: 13,064 | Gross: $27.80M
16. Rain Man (1988)
R | 133 min | Drama
After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen
Votes: 546,436 | Gross: $178.80M
17. House of Cards (1993)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama
A widow tries to find out why her daughter's strange behavior, a reaction to her father's death, is progressively worsening.
Director: Michael Lessac | Stars: Kathleen Turner, Tommy Lee Jones, Asha Menina, Shiloh Strong
Votes: 2,947 | Gross: $0.32M
18. Fielder's Choice (2005 TV Movie)
G | 85 min | Drama
Phillip Fielder is a man who is struggling to rise up in his competitive career. Then his sister passes away leaving him custody of her 8 year old autistic son. Soon Fielder learns responsibilities of being a father.
Director: Kevin Connor | Stars: Chad Lowe, Kesun Loder, Marin Hinkle, Bodhi Elfman
Votes: 321
19. After Thomas (2006 TV Movie)
93 min | Biography, Drama
A true story about a couple's struggles to meet the challenges of their son's autism.
Director: Simon Shore | Stars: Keeley Hawes, Ben Miles, Sheila Hancock, Andrew Byrne
Votes: 653
20. Under the Piano (1996 TV Movie)
92 min | Drama
An autistic child growing up in the 1940's and 50's with a mother who is bitter because her fear of success has denied to herself a possible career in opera. This anger translates into an ... See full summary »
Director: Stefan Scaini | Stars: Amanda Plummer, Megan Follows, Teresa Stratas, James Carroll
Votes: 197
21. Temple Grandin (2010 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 107 min | Biography, Drama
A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who has become one of the top scientists in the humane livestock handling industry.
Director: Mick Jackson | Stars: Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, David Strathairn, Catherine O'Hara
Votes: 32,568
22. Fly Away (2011)
TV-G | 80 min | Drama
The story of Jeanne and her autistic teenage daughter, Mandy. Jeanne has cared for Mandy since the day she was born, growing closer every day to a child who is charmingly offbeat one moment and nearly impossible to manage the next.
Director: Janet Grillo | Stars: Beth Broderick, Ashley Rickards, Aramazd Stepanian, Promotion
Votes: 375
23. A Mother's Courage: Talking Back to Autism (2009)
TV-G | 103 min | Documentary
The mother of an autistic child is determined not to accept the pessimistic prognosis for her son.
Director: Friðrik Þór Friðriksson | Stars: Margrét Dagmar Ericsdóttir, David G. Amaral, Simon Baron-Cohen, David Crowe
Votes: 271 | Gross: $0.00M
24. Mary and Max (2009)
Not Rated | 92 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
In 1976 Melbourne, a lonely 8-year-old girl strikes up a correspondence with an unlikely pen pal: a severely obese 44-year-old New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.
Director: Adam Elliot | Stars: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries
Votes: 186,763
25. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)
PG-13 | 129 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery
A nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max von Sydow
Votes: 105,163 | Gross: $31.85M
26. God's Ears (2008)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
Noah Connelly is a boxer with a tireless opponent: Autism. But when he meets a dancer named Alexia, the two discover together that the toughest fight may be not be of the body, but of the heart.
Director: Michael Worth | Stars: Margot Farley, Michael Worth, John Saxon, Mitzi Kapture
Votes: 91
27. Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love (1979 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama
A young couple is overjoyed when they find out that, after having had two girls, the wife is pregnant again, and this time it will be a son. However, the boy turns out to autistic. Unhappy ... See full summary »
Director: Glenn Jordan | Stars: James Farentino, Kathryn Harrold, Stephen Elliott, Henry Olek
Votes: 226
28. The Horse Boy (2009)
Unrated | 93 min | Documentary
A writer documents the journey his family takes to Mongolia to consult with nomadic shamans on the healing of their autistic son.
Director: Michel Orion Scott | Stars: Rupert Isaacson, Kristin Neff, Rowan Isaacson, Kendal Stewart
Votes: 720 | Gross: $0.16M
29. Breaking and Entering (2006)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A landscape architect's dealings with a young thief cause him to re-evaluate his life.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Jude Law, Robin Wright, Vera Farmiga, Martin Freeman
Votes: 23,237 | Gross: $0.93M
30. Dear John (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 108 min | Drama, Romance, War
A romantic drama about a soldier who falls for a conservative college student while he's home on leave.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas
Votes: 157,730 | Gross: $80.01M
31. The Story of Luke (2012)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Sheltered by his grandparents, Luke, a young man with autism, is thrust into a world that doesn't expect anything from him. But Luke is on a quest for a job and true love. And he isn't taking no for an answer.
Director: Alonso Mayo | Stars: Lou Taylor Pucci, Jayne Eastwood, Pam Hyatt, Cary Elwes
Votes: 3,287
32. The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy, Romance
A woman who moves into an apartment across the hall from two brilliant but socially awkward physicists shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory.
Stars: Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg
Votes: 867,422
33. Parenthood (2010–2015)
TV-PG | 60 min | Comedy, Drama
The lives and tragedies of the Braverman family tree.
Stars: Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Dax Shepard, Monica Potter
Votes: 37,548
Tell Your Friends