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X Plus Y

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X Plus Y

PG-13

Released Sep 11, 2015

1h 51m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

76 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Struggling to build relationships with others, a teenage math prodigy (Asa Butterfield) develops a budding friendship with a young girl (Jo Yang) while competing at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

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Critics Consensus

A Brilliant Young Mind is tender and perceptive -- and intelligent enough to find a wealth of dramatic riches buried under well-trod narrative ground.

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Roxana Hadadi

Chesapeake Family Magazine

The touching A Brilliant Young Mind, about a teen boy with autism, features strong performances that make it more memorable than you would initially expect.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 2, 2016

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Ty Burr

Boston Globe

Parents and teachers of all the Nathans out there may be inclined to give "A Brilliant Young Mind" the full four stars; for the rest of us, it's small, smart, and satisfying.

Sep 24, 2015

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Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

Long after you've seen the film, you'll remember the wonderfully nuanced work of the cast, particularly Ms. Hawkins.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 24, 2015

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Leo Brady

AMovieGuy.com

A Brilliant Young Mind is a gentle film that elegantly searches for the answers of loss and love. It is a winning formula.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 31, 2021

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

A Brilliant Young Mind is at its most brilliant when it's portraying Nathan's inner journey and his awkward yet intimate and revealing struggles with relationships.

Rated: 3.5/4.0

Aug 30, 2020

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Mae Abdulbaki

Movies with Mae

Morgan Matthews infuses the film with enough emotion, good conversation, and an effective ending that will pull on your heartstrings a bit.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 11, 2019

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Perry W

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.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/20/25

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thomas l

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/16/25

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Topher S

a sweet film that portrays autism compentently

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/25

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Blob 9

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

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/05/23

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Nawt W

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/06/23

Full Review

Lava M

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

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/18/21

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Morgan Matthews

Director

Asa Butterfield

Nathan Ellis

Rafe Spall

Martin Humphreys

Sally Hawkins

Julie Ellis

Eddie Marsan

Richard

Jo Yang

Zhang Mei

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Synopsis

Struggling to build relationships with others, a teenage math prodigy (Asa Butterfield) develops a budding friendship with a young girl (Jo Yang) while competing at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

Director: Morgan Matthews
Producer: Laura Hastings-Smith, David M. Thompson, Edward L. Rubin
Screenwriter: James Graham
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Production Co: Minnow Films, Head Gear Films, BBC Film, Origin Pictures, British Film Institute (BFI), Lipsync Productions, Screen Yorkshire, Metrol Technology
Rating: PG-13 (Disturbing Images|A Sexual Reference|Drug Material|Some Strong Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 11, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 27, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $151.2K
Runtime: 1h 51m

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