Arthouse Review: Life Animated

If my moniker doesn’t give it away, I’m a huge fan of movies, all kinds of movies. I don’t just love watching movies, I love learning about them, the processes, the mindsets, and even what movies mean to people. This last element is especially important because the movies that a person enjoys is an indicator of an individual’s identity, as most art tends to do. Yet as we see in Life, Animated, a documentary now in theaters, movies can also play a larger part in a person’s life, especially when their mental facilities are inflicted by trauma. In Owen Suskind’s case, it was autism at the age of three that left him unable to speak or communicate to his family for years. Yet it would be his deep love of Disney animated films that he found the ability to communicate again and helped him connect to others as well.

This film, directed by Roger Ross Williams, goes through the long fight that the Suskind family had to deal with in order to get their son back and help him to find his independence. It also allows Owen to express himself through watching Disney films as we see him connect to films like Aladdin and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. These scenes, especially in the case of Hunchback, are very poignant as it relates to an event being discussed. It also uses art to recreate events and in several scenes, animates a story written by Owen himself that gives us perhaps a more detailed look at how Owen sees the world.

Now most of this could be whittled down to a very powerful half-hour short documentary, but what really sets this documentary in a powerful direction is the present-day setting and the questions that come along with it. During filming, Owen is graduating high school and is looking forward to a new independent lifestyle coming afterwards. The film shows the genuine worry of his parents, who are slightly older than average, along with his older brother, who in one of the most powerful scenes in the film, expresses genuine concern about his ability to take care of his brother in their place. This is a rare documentary that leaves the audience genuinely curious as to what will happen later to Owen, who is desperately trying to carve an independent life for himself.

The film’s pros come from being a compelling subject and a catchy premise. It also uses drawings and animation in a way to express Owen’s perspective on things and make the subject of autism more relatable. The cons, by contrast, come from using some slight emotional manipulation which was not needed, not to mention that the film doesn’t ask questions that should’ve seemed elementary, such as whether or not he found any emotional relationship to non-Disney animation, which we see he does own. This is peculiar because the film itself wasn’t released by Disney but uses a great deal of animated clips from the films and only specific titles. After watching the film, I found myself asking even more questions that I would never get answers to.

For the final word on Life Animated, this is a solid SEE IT, especially if you enjoy documentaries. It’s not one of the best films of the year, but it’s well-told and engaging, not to mention Owen Suskind will win your heart easy.