Aaron Barnes (Mark Elias) lives with Autism, and the aspect of his life that has suffered the most is his social life. After the passing of his mother, now feeling alone, Aaron wants to find a romantic partner, but just about everyone he’s come in contact with finds him off putting. Boy Makes Girl is the story of just that, Aaron developing an artificial woman with which he can become romantically involved. But every relationship comes with baggage.
While Boy Makes Girl depicts a very specific relationship, Writer-Director Elias and Co-Director Mark David bring a relationship to life that so beautifully mirrors just about every one that we’ve ever experienced. The film is very in tune with the reality of romantic relationships, exploring the intricacies of those relationships in ways that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen depicted in film before. Aaron and I are different in a number of ways, but I was able to so easily connect with him, to appreciate his struggles, and ultimately fall in love with him.
There is a massive plot hole in Boy Makes Girl: no one can figure out that Aaron is autistic. It’s made abundantly clear through his speech and his actions, and yet it seems that no one has the wherewithal to understand this, to sympathize with him, or to even accept this about him. I certainly understand that some individuals struggle with social cues, and that there are people out there that struggle to understand some of the nuances of Autism–but there is no way that everyone struggles to understand that Aaron is struggling during conversation. This sort of dilutes the narrative a bit in Boy Makes Girl, and I found this constant occurrence very frustrating.
Aaron is, time and time again, placed in unique locations–ones that challenge him and whoever he might be with. With that, I think Aaron develops at a rate in which viewers are able to play along, understand him, and ultimately root for him along the way. Boy Makes Girl uses the setting to develop characters, the narrative, and the film as a whole. By allowing the film to exist in a garage, a dance studio, a coffee house, and other semi-odd locations, depth is added to Boy Makes Girl and to Aaron (the most important part of the film).
I can’t write this without saying how stellar Elias was throughout the course of Boy Makes Girl. It’s challenging trying to fill the shoes of anyone, but Aaron is such a multidimensional character, one that includes so many intricacies, that it needs something near perfect to effectively bring him to life. I’ve worked with students with Autism for years now, and Elias does a spectacular job of bringing this character to life, of creating an honest depiction of what Aaron would be like in these situations, effectively driving Boy Makes Girl forward.
Boy Makes Girl has the potential to be a really difficult film to make. There are a lot of moving parts, but what’s most important is bringing Aaron to life in a way that is done tactfully and honestly. With Elias being such an important part of this production, just about everything works out, and Boy Makes Girl thrives as a result.
Directed by Mark Davis & Mark Elias.
Written by Mark Elias.
Starring Mark Elias, Paul Dooley, Meeghan Holaway, Saundra McClain, John Billingsley, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
