Director: Morgan Matthews

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Sally Hawkins, Rafe Spall, Eddie Marsan, Jo Yang

In 2007, Morgan Matthews directed a 90 minute documentary about the weird and wonderful young competitors at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) called Beautiful Young Minds. The subject matter obviously left its mark on the director as seven years later he would return to it for his feature film debut X+Y.

X+Y tells the story of Nathan Ellis, an autistic boy who lives with his mother Julie in Yorkshire. Diagnosed at a young age, Nathan’s social difficulties were accelerated when his father, with whom he shared a special bond, was killed in a car accident. Nathan’s interest is mathematics and with Julie incapable of meeting his appetite for maths – whenever she tries he frequently reminds her that she is not clever enough – she engages former child prodigy Martin Humphreys to tutor him. Together, Nathan and Martin set their sights on the IMO in Cambridge. Continue reading →