When depicting a person known best for an advocacy, you have to be accurate to their story, but it’s rare to see a biopic match the ideas of that advocacy in its direction. It’s because of this that the HBO film Temple Grandin is great. While made for TV, it’s not a by-the-numbers biopic that just depicts the academic’s life straight. No, instead, the film experiments with visual ways to depict her unique visual intelligence– as Grandin’s autism also granted her photogenic memory, an above-average instinct for mechanical smarts, and a focus and drive to understand that’s not as shakable as other neurotypical academics. This novel approach matches the very advocacies she lived throughout her life– the systematic, more humane treatment in slaughterhouses, and the idea that autism doesn’t mean deficiency, it just needs support to allow that different intelligence to thrive.
"Most impressively, Danes gets past the tics of her character -- an autistic woman who "thinks in pictures" -- to create the sort of memorable portrait that frequently yields gilded ornaments as a lovely parting gift."
— Brian Lowry
A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic American who has become one of the leading scientists in humane livestock handling.
Arizona, 1960s. Before going to college, autistic woman Temple Grandin visits a cattle ranch owned by her aunt Ann, unexpectedly becoming an animal husbandry expert known best for her advocacy of humane slaughterhouse practices.
Claire Danes.
Thank you, Temple Grandin, for sharing your story.
Golden Globes
1 win, 2 nominations
SAG Awards
1 win, 1 nomination
DGA
1 win
WGA
1 nomination
