A Brilliant Young Mind

Original title: X+Y

2014
PG-13
1h 51m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

31K

YOUR RATING

Eddie Marsan, Sally Hawkins, Rafe Spall, Jo Yang, and Asa Butterfield in A Brilliant Young Mind (2014)

French Trailer for A Brilliant Young Mind

Play trailer1:29

3 Videos

40 Photos

Drama Romance

A socially awkward teenage maths prodigy finds new confidence and new friendships when he lands a spot on the British squad at the International Mathematics Olympiad.A socially awkward teenage maths prodigy finds new confidence and new friendships when he lands a spot on the British squad at the International Mathematics Olympiad.A socially awkward teenage maths prodigy finds new confidence and new friendships when he lands a spot on the British squad at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

31K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 10 wins & 11 nominations total

Trivia
As stated in the end credits, the movie was inspired by Beautiful Young Minds (2007). The character Nathan Ellis is based on Daniel Lightwing, specifically his experiences before and during the IMO competition.

Goofs
The double rainbow that Nathan and Zhang Mei see from the train when they arrive in England is wrongly generated. The secondary rainbow should be inverted with purple on the outside of the arc but in the movie red is on the outside. The rainbow should also be opposite the sun so the shadows on the ground should point towards it.

Quotes
Julie: When somebody says they love you it means they see something in you they think is worth something... It adds value to you.

Connections
Featured in Conan: David Oyelowo/Asa Butterfield/JR JR (2015)

Soundtracks
Sweetheart, What Have You Done to Us
Written and performed by Keaton Henson
Published by Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd
Licensed courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd

User reviews96

Review

Featured review

9/10

The Awkardness of Life

I pre-ordered "X+Y" from the UK, not realizing it was being released in the US (under a different name). This ended up being one of my favorite movies of this year, but I feel like many people will not give it a chance for several reasons, but mainly the subject matter.

"It" is a delicate petal to step around to a lot of people. Nathan is not the epitome of all people on the spectrum, he is unique and also based on a real person (albeit loosely). You don't have to have any kind of "diagnosed condition" to understand the hardships portrayed in the film. His is not the only struggle, just the most emphasized.

I must say that I was impressed with Asa Butterfield's portrayal of Nathan. Not many actors can convey emotions or thoughts without actually saying much of anything. When you feel empathy for a character, you know the actor is doing far more than just saying their memorized lines. That being said, everyone did a pretty good job bringing their characters to life.