The Boy Who Could Fly

With such a promising premise, it's a shame that The Boy Who Could Fly so quickly descends into Disneyland. Milly (Deakins) is the new kid on the block. The boy next door is Eric (Underwood), an autistic child who spends his days perched on a bedroom windowsill with arms outstretched in dreams of flight. The two outsiders are at once drawn to one another, and a sympathetic teacher (Dewhurst) plays upon their developing relationship, hoping to reintegrate Eric into the classroom and prevent the authorities from institutionalising him. As the adults close in, the young dreamers are chased on to the school roof, with nowhere to turn but up or down. Director Castle gets lost in fantasy, spoiling a promising portrait with some heavy-handed emotional manipulation and an escapist conclusion.