April is the autism awareness month, and, being somewhat of an insider, I felt compelled to review a recent horror film featuring an autistic character, Come Play, 2020.
I understand that it's a horror movie first and foremost. It's not meant to build awareness around autism. It's not trying to be "woke" in that regard. At least, I hope it's not. I had very mixed feelings about a mainstream movie using an autistic central character. I had hoped they would depict a young boy in a more authentic, nuanced manner. I will be the first one to tell you that there is no such thing as a "typical autistic person". This boy is a compilation of autistic stereotypes. Wide-eyed and angel-faced, he is endearing enough to keep the shock value to the minimum. Think of it as a vanilla, sanitized version of an autistic stereotype. And of course, the imperfect mother becomes a perfect martyr - another stereotype around families of autistic children. I give the storyline a B-. It's another bud on the "Babadook" tree.
