Nathan, a socially awkward, teenage math prodigy finds new confidence and new friendships when he lands a spot on the British squad at the International Mathematics Olympiad in A Brilliant Young Mind, a warm and inspirational drama co-starring Sally Hawkins, Rafe Spall and Eddie Marsan.

Diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum when he was a little boy, Nathan has always struggled to relate to people, even to his ever-loving and patient widowed mother, Julie (Sally Hawkins). Numbers (especially prime ones) are the only things that make sense to him. But when attentive teacher Mr. Humphreys (Rafe Spall) takes an interest in Nathan’s talents, doors begin to open.

Morgan Matthews’s A Brilliant Young Mind emerges as one of the year’s most rewarding discoveries, and its director as one of the UK’s hottest new filmmakers. Asa Butterfield is as wonder as Nathan, and the always-superb Hawkins is a force of nature as a mother struggling to reach her son. A story of profound warmth, A Brilliant Young Mind is about more than connecting numbers — it’s about connecting hearts.