Maria and I

This charming but slightly overlong father-daughter documentary follows Barcelona-based illustrator Miguel Gallardo as he returns his severely autistic child Maria to her mother in the Canary Islands. Gallardo is a thoughtful and welcoming host, and his deep emotional attachment to the subject adds gravitas and emotional impact. But the look of the film tends toward the bland – a brace of brief animated sequences are cute but inessential – and it's hard to shake the feeling that 'Maria and I' would be more at home on television.