This is a thoughtful movie that tugs at both emotions and thought processes. It is well-acted, with a subtlety suited to the complex issues that are involved. Those include loss (of parent), autism (both limitations and extraordinary powers), inter-cultural and inter0racial relationships, being entwined in a body that is failing due to MS), growing up different.... I am not sure what the people who rated it poorly felt, but I found it very worthwhile; entertaining and thought-provoking.

Probably one of my favourite movies ever, even when I didn't understand myself I couldn't stop crying when I first saw it because it was just so relatable

a sweet film that portrays autism compentently

Although its slightly uneven and predictable, X+Y manages to create an entertaining and comprehensive story behind its topic backed by commendable performances.

This cliched and rudimentary plot cannot be carried by solid casting, great visuals, and a great soundtrack. I've read that Daniel Lightwing, on whom the movie is based, liked it, but it doesn't solve the problem of barebones characters and conflict that prevents said characters from saying anything meaningful. Yes, it is truly hard to be an autistic child carrying the trauma of losing a parent at an early age, but unfortunately this is Nathan's only defining characteristic in this movie, along with his love of patterns. Ironically, a far more interesting character ends up being Luke, played by Jake Davies. What if you're both socially awkward and not even that brilliant to compensate for it?Now that is a person who is absolutely in a dark place, and figuring out what to make of this life would have been noteworthy. Unfortunately, this is a movie about blue-eyed Nathan, who has two girls lusting after him, with the boy being none the wiser. I guess that counts as cute. Math is displayed in this film in the same way that hacking is in most films. Things are being said, probably intelligent things, in an attempt to present them in a dramatic manner, with limited success.

Enjoyable to a certain extent, not very effective or catchy.

This movie deserves more attention. The acting, the script and the directing are excellent. I enjoyed every moment of it.

Acting is extremely poor

I like the way the film is directed and simple, besides the fact that the anguish brought by the character is magnificent

Brilliant film. Outrageous directing. A lot of emotions revealed that it reflects a remarkably moving story.

Asa Butterfield and the luminous Sally Hawkins shine in this warm tender story of a young autistic math genius and his wonderful, understanding mother dealing with the death of her husband and her son's inability to show any affection, until he goes to the International Math Olympics.

This fine British film is a fictional/fact movie version of the documentary production ‘Beautiful Young Minds' which was in turn about the real-life Math prodigy Daniel Lightwing. Asa Butterfield is perfect in the title role and has a strong cast of professional performers to compliment his performance. Prolific playwright James Graham's debut screenplay is exceptional in almost every detail and carries the viewer through a rollercoaster ride of human emotions - as his youthful characters, etc, navigate unfamiliar human experiences. Solid direction and stylish cinematography keep it all on track, with Martin Phipps' haunting music score nicely setting the moods for each scene. Sally Hawkins gives yet another of her introspective performance as Butterfield's widowed mother - with good support from Rafe Spall (Life of Pi) as Butterfield's somewhat tortured mentor. Superior entertainment for discerning viewers, with its DVD release big on transfer quality.

It was rather slow moving and boring. Listed as a comedy-drama, but I did not see any comedy. It was a shallow movie with no character development. I found it hideous and trite. Nathaniel never develops and remains stagnate. There is no excitement or anything to draw the viewer in. It passed the time, but certainly not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination.

Great depiction of autism, and a very enjoyable movie

A really beautiful film. Like the story and the actors fits the characters.

It’s a fine film. I didn’t really enjoy the maths. Odd to say that when the whole point of the film is the Maths Olympics, but then you don’t have to have an interest in medicine to watch House. And the drama is focused around a kid growing up with autism. These types of films always have to tread a very fine line between making the kids relatable and a sort of patronising idea that people just need to break through their shell and they’ll be fine. Some people have shells for a reason and while we all have the same basic drives for a lot of these kids the focus and expression of these drives is not what we feel it should be. And when we try to say that it secretly is and you just have to pressure them until they open up... well that’s where it gets patronising. To the film’s credit it mostly avoids that issue and keeps the kids believably different. Everyone at the math camp falls somewhere on the antisocial or autistic spectrum because that’s basically where you need to live to get that far. And that includes the people running it. And seeing the sort of group dynamics that form out of this is interesting. And the cast, particularly Asa Butterfield, are very believable in their roles. Apart, alas, from the Chinese who all seem far too normal. But that’s when the math comes in and with mathematical problems consuming all aspects of their lives it’s impossible to see only the drama. Which is why, ultimately, the film just didn’t keep my interest.

I'll buy Sally Hawkins as much ice cream as she wants any day.

A solid performance from all

With an exceptionally British touch to it, 'A Brilliant Young Mind' may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the heartfelt and touching story will win a lot of people over. Asa Butterfield does a brilliant job of portraying an autistic young man who struggles to express or understand his feelings about everything except for Maths which is his guiding light. Along the way, he meets various people who have different effects on him and help him to understand that perhaps there is more to life than he previously thought. At its core, it's about finding your place, particularly when you feel a bit different, and that is something that a lot of people will relate to.

X Plus Y tries to be a great film, but alas falls quite short for me.