The Limits of My World

Filmmaker Heather Cassano draws from older and more recent home movies featuring her autistic brother Brian as a way to help her reconnect with the latter during a moment of transition in his life. A new graduate from a special needs school, Brian is moving out of his family home and into an assisted-living facility. His longtime aide is leaving and a replacement is trying to get a handle on nonverbal Brian’s needs and sometimes-abrasive behaviors. Unfortunately, the viewer is also foundering: left staring at images of Brian from preschool to age 18 or so, but without much context or narrative shape, or even much effort from Cassano to explain her quest to know her brother better. The Limits of My World is a very personal documentary, one that will likely be appreciated by those with autistic family members or acquaintances, but it lacks the more general resonance of other autism-related documentaries such as Deej (VL-3/18) and Far From the Tree (VL-3/19). A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)