Nathan's Kingdom (2020) User Reviews

Slow And Low Budget...That's About It.

[nebk · 4/10 · 21 April 2020]

Nathan's Kingdom is best described as an attempt at a fantasy drama in which Lauren and Nathan, a brother and sister search for an imaginary kingdom which offers safety from every day life and struggle and the fact that Nathan who is autistic might be taken by social services. The rest of the movie consists of a road trip in which the duo meets various people, works on their strained relationship and searches for the kingdom.

The problem is that this movie is cheap and the effects show this or in some cases show nothing at all as the filmmakers couldn't afford to have too many effects. The acting is not great and the lack of experience of the actors clearly shows. The soundtrack is relatively drab and depressing. The movie has a relatively short run time but it feels like it's dragging and still manages to feel much longer than the 90 minutes. It could have been worse but it could have been much better as well. Overall this film deserves a score of about 4/10.

So much wasted potential

[eyefordetail · 4/10 · 16 June 2020]

Reading the critics reviews one gets a wonderful perspective of autism, but not a lot about the movie. This is a review of the movie and not of autism. Overall, a good concept and a fair indie movie. However, low budget is no excuse for poor directing, poor editing and allowing lame acting to pass as final product. The visual effects and stylistic elements are excellent. Really good work there. But sadly it cannot carry the movie. I just feel that there was so much more that could have been done to make it better. It's as if someone's "good enough" bar was set too low. I did manage to get to the end of the movie, which took some effort. But the effort wasn't really worth it at the end.

Worth to see but nothing special

[leonidasstathopoulos · 6/10 · 21 April 2020]

A promising scenario, sketch animated parts, but characters lost and giving less than expected... Worth to watch but nothing special

Not worth watching.

[icemaciop · 1/10 · 10 June 2020]

Very slow paced and boring, and in the end nothing really happened. It feels like a 10th of a story that is just being stretched out. No story, no finale, nothing worth watching, unless you are into slow depressing music.

Just a waste of dreamlike potential in a Neurodivergant mind

[caseypthompson · 3/10 · 4 June 2022]

The story potential itself was beautiful and they completely wasted it. As the Autistic character himself is in fact Autistic, I didn't judge him on his acting...but if he had good director, a better script, a better coach, a better acting cast and a better editor - his character would've come across more beautifully. Because, he is in fact, a beautiful person and the movie totally missed the potential of exploring his mind in the film.

The cinematography, the acting (from other actors), the score...just awful. It was painful to watch. And as an Autistic surrealist professional artist, I saw so much more that could've been done. It could've been like Eternal Sunshine meets What Dreams May Come. The location was too bland. Whoever the scouts were didn't do a good job. Should've picked the Northwest, Montana, or the high desert (totally different than lower desert). I lived in the desert, and while it's beautiful, you can only handle so many brown colors and rocks.

Professional filmmakers know how to make the desert brilliant without boring the viewer.

Tent Rocks in NM would've been an easy drive and an amazing surrealistic place to film for interesting rocks to lay out as a surrealistic landscape. I get the low budget, but the people who made this just didn't see far enough into what it could've been and it's really unfortunate.

And why was the sister obsessively being shot checking her makeup and herself in the mirror in the truck? Were they just trying to fill in time?

Why did the sister say "when I get gas" when the truck already had gas?

I think these guys spent all their money on the CGI in the first 5 minutes of the film and on the art scenes and then failed the rest.

The beginning scene and the art scenes were the only good parts because it wasn't messed up with horrible actors and music.

Stop giving this film 10 stars just because it's about an Autistic young adult. It failed.

• An Adult on the Spectrum.

Waste of time...

[thorfinnv · 2/10 · 6 July 2020]

I do not write reviews but I will make an exception this time because it is easily one of the movies that you should not watch. The rating is quite misleading. Waste of time.

When you argue with an idiot, you become one.

[yoyodeep · 1/10 · 15 May 2020]

Please take no offenses. I have my greatest sympathy to patients with autism. However, what the movie showed to us was disturbing and misleading. For a child with autism, the caregiver should help the patient seek proper therapy, not playing pretend or following whatever the patient wants to do. The main character just completely lack the knowledge and ability to take care of her sick brother. Love is cheap. Love does not treat autism. Science does.

Acting....

[albtcamus · 3/10 · 2 August 2022]

Acting pretty bad but that's just the script. Terrible writing! The intro is interesting, some stupid beginning scenes but that happens. 10mins in...starts to look stupid. I give it some stars for the idea and location scenes. Someone has to get credit for the good parts, but not many of that. So, screenplay- bad. Acting - not so good.

This movie takes you on a fantastical journey.

[jpanimr · 9/10 · 23 April 2020]

Yes, some journeys take their time. It's refreshing. It allows the movie and us to breath. Not a crazy rush rush super hero cut cut action flick. I am surprised at some of the amazing visuals; that car with the invisible creature... and how crazy is that shot of towers to the clouds of people climbing over each other? The stylistic cut out animation? Maybe I just love creative things and using your imagination to travel to other worlds more than others.

I did a little research after watching this film and I think it's amazing that they found and hired an autistic actor to play the role of someone who is autistic. So many unique things about this movie that makes me appreciate it more and more.

A story that just did not reach the coming of age it was striving for!

[silicontourist · 1/10 · 30 November 2020]

By the way there is absolutely NOTHING remotely Sci-Fi about this film at all; so why was it rated as such!

Its not the low budget that causes the lackluster going nowhere story to fail but rather the Jacob Lince (as Nathan) utterly terrible lack of ability to portray an autistic person. Autism is a hard thing to portray but I have seen other actors do a far more convincing job. Most famous would of course be Dustin Hoffman, playing alongside Tom Cruise as his brother in "RAIN MAN".

Then we had Madison Ford (as Nathans opiate addicted sister,Laura) and all she did was act like your typical millennial spoilt, bad attitude modern day brat! I could feel no sympathy for her character at all even though having to look after an older autistic sibling would normally have you feeling bad for her in at least a small way...Nope...NO way...just couldn't! Also! I don't think it was make-up intentional or anything but she looked absolutely wrecked/ill/drab all through the film.

I had to force myself to complete the film view to the end. All I could find good about this poor offering was the periodical fantastic views of mountain scenes and oddly eroded shaped rock towers etc. If you are having trouble sleeping then this is the film to watch...you will nod off in 10-20 minutes, if not sooner.

Yet another time in my life that would have been better spent watcjing paint dry!

Don't recommend watching

[mudhaffar · 2/10 · 27 August 2020]

If you wish to kill time! probably this movie not even the right choice. 😬

Total waste of time!

[imjahirol · 1/10 · 7 August 2021]

Watching the movie I was so disappointed that I created my account on IMDb just to let other people know that it was total waste of time!! Nothing really happened even in the end!!

One thinks the production team may have scored this ...

[namstonk · 2/10 · 1 November 2020]

Yup, it's one of them, terrible acting, turgid dialogue and pointless scenes. Two stars for having a pop.

Had potential, didn't reach it

[Snootz · 5/10 · 14 August 2022]

The concept had potential. The cinematography was relatively good and the artwork in "The Book" was incredibly good-- and was the part I found most fascinating about the story.

However, the actor playing the autistic brother wasn't convincing in the part, his characterization very wooden. The actress tried to pull off her part well but she wasn't given much to work with.

Which brings us to the story line. It's more of a long, drawn out slice of life film without much in the way of point or purpose. There's no real plot, no climax, no evident point to the ending. It's not that it wasn't interesting; it did hold my attention all the way through. All through the story I was expecting it to make some kind of point. But in the end it just didn't deliver much of anything.

I've seen several films like this. Potential... potential... potential... fizzle... thud. Roll credits. I've said it before: Start with a good script, or don't make the film.

But again, kudos to the artist on the book. I kept thinking all the way through the film: if this were real, with a manager the guy could make a living in the art world. Evidently the actual artist does. For me, that book was the redeeming factor of the film. The rest of it... 5 star mediocre (barely).

An Indie that took me on an epic journey!

[ruelsmith-295-285381 · 10/10 · 23 April 2020]

Loved this film. It moved me! And the fact they casted an autistic actor warmed my heart. The VFX blew my mind. Taking Indies to the next level! Worth the watch

Bold, interesting view on family.

[joebasile-1 · 10/10 · 18 March 2020]

It's a simple story of brother and sister, told in a big bold way. Worth the watch. The performances are wonderful. The movie's visuals are interesting. Both moving and relatable.

A beautifully told story of family

[gabrielreiter · 10/10 · 15 February 2020]

The VFX are awesome and the filmmakers create a fascinating visual style that really hooks you and connects you with a beautifully told story of family.

A movie that gives you new perspectives 💙✨!

[besankhait · 10/10 · 14 November 2021]

The movie is so emotional, heartwarming, and overall really really good!! And I'm quite shook of all the bad reviews here! Some people say that the acting is bad, but I think the exact opposite, The actor who played as Nathan is autistic himself, so no one knows how to act autistic more than him 🙂.. and I've dealt with many autistic children before and I'm telling you that wasn't different from the character from the movie at all! The stubborness when they set their minds on something, the love and forgiveness for those who they admire, the creation and amazing imagination, literally everything was realistic!

Also I found Laura's character soo on point, someone mentioned that she acted like a tepical teenager with bad attitude, and didn't have any sympathy for her? But isn't that the whole point? She was a kid who was abandoned by their parents and left with an autistic older brother to take care of, of course she's gonna be the way she is with all the bad events that she's been through, and the actress did an amazing job capturing that! So it made me feel really sympathized with her. And dispite all of this tragedy there was still this warm brotherly spark between them that made me tear up several times throughout the movie, totally love it! The graphics, the paintings the natural backgrounds everything was perfect. This movie deserves way more recognition and admiration.

Only watch if you are involved

[rickscorpio-00490 · 9/10 · 20 November 2022]

TL;DR If you do not deal with autsism, this movie is a bore and it is very slow. Do not watch. It is not a fantasy or sci-fi, but one persons life dealing with a brother of autism

This movie was spot on. For over two decades I have lived with someone similar, and even after a lengthy divorce, I am finding I cannot be without her. So this movie was real easy to watch, if not for "what-would-she-do" mentality.

Sparsely narrated by Fords character, many days you find yourself going along with your spouse, believing things are going well and dandy, and other days you want to scream. I took the screaming episode that, I went further and divorced. Yet when the smoke cleared, things went back to hunky dory, and we were a "couple" again. But always there is that feeling that this is fake, and/or they will snap out of it, but they never do.

While it did not really play a role in the movie (similar to V for Vendetta), what type of autism was not really needed. He did play this fairly spot on as well. You really could not tell on the outside that he was any different from anyone else - until you got close.

I am a sci-fi/fantasy movie, and this one in that category, which was the only reason I watched it - I HATE drama shows (I live drama, why do I want to watch a recreated version of it), yet watching this, I did not move an inch until the movie ended.

Like in real life, the other two characters did their job showing both they really can't help, and for Ford, just cant take on a relationship no matter how bad you want to. It just would not work. You have too much responsibility. There really wasn't much development with them, however it really wasn't needed.

Every persons mind is different, and that is their "Kingdom".

"...it's your kingdom, no one has to believe in it for you to be real"

abandon all hope ye who enter the kingdom

[murfwinship · 8/10 · 10 August 2022]

You have to understand that when people give up hope, they have nowhere to turn. Never destroy hope and love, as it is what all of humanity holds on to and holds dear. If you think that the world is hopeless, give in to help and seek the advice of others that are older and wiser to show you the way... A young autistic man struggles with his teenage opiate-addicted sister, and together they risk their lives to find a fictitious kingdom with the potential of changing their lives forever. This movie is quite poignant and relative, in that it points to basic humanitarian needs of Maslow's Hierarchy of Power Pyramid. I would also utilize the five stages of Thanatology or grief as well. Cheers! Murf.