If you read the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, you will discover a lot of similar elements in Nic Balthazar’s extraordinary, cleanly produced Ben X. Both the novel and this movie show what it's like to be completely baffled by the social conventions that surround you. Balthazar does an excellent job visualizing the cacophony and confusion that an autistic person must endure.

Balthazar avoids the “video games are causing trouble” myth. Nor is Ben X another Mazes and Monsters, that ultra-cheesy TV movie where Tom Hanks flips out from too much Dungeons and Dragons. Rather, online gaming is portrayed in a surprisingly sympathetic light; it is in the online world that Ben (a superb Greg Timmermans) does not suffer from any disabilities. Indeed, I was intrigued how Balthazar shows how online gaming can be the ideal haven for the autistic person. In online gaming, social conventions are fairly cut and dry, and you can reinvent yourself in an infinite amount of ways--perfect for the over-literal mindset of the autistic person.

Ben X is primarily a sharp criticism of oblivious authority figures who do nothing to stop bullying. I was particularly impressed with the seamless editing of flashbacks of Ben being tormented at a younger age. Ben also gives a very sly and inadvertently witty commentary on the slew of psychiatrists who pigeonhole him. Even the revelation that he has Asperger’s Syndrome gets Ben no closer to “fixing” himself; Ben X does not provide any easy answers, only true to life observations.

My only problem with this film is the somewhat incongruous, sloppy ending that felt too gimmicky and contrived. The conclusion was rushed and the only part of the film that was poorly edited. Fortunately, the silly ending does not diminish the film’s power. Ben X is a rare film that shows pop culture as one of the few salves and shields for miserable teenagers. Ben X places the blame for teenage misery squarely where it belongs: our tolerance of bullying and our incessant obsession with what is “normal”.