Code Mercury

Production and year: USA, 1998 Original title: Mercury Rising Director: Harold Becker Genre: Thriller Cast: Bruce Willis, Miko Hughes, Alec Baldwin Medical topic: autism Description: "Mercury Rising" is a solid thriller. This genre rarely appears in the Medical Films section. Which is a shame, because I have to admit that when it comes to portraying the autism spectrum, it speaks to me much more than dramas or romantic comedies dedicated to this type of disorder. Here, a child with autism is portrayed in a very unconventional way. On the one hand, the film shows the boy’s helplessness in the face of the dangers of the world around him; on the other, it presents him as someone capable of cracking a secret code used by American intelligence. But let’s start from the beginning. An armed man breaks into the home of 9-year-old Simon (Hughes), who has autism, and kills his parents. The boy manages to hide. So effectively, in fact, that even the police who arrive at the scene are unable to find him. Art (Willis), an FBI agent, manages to find him, however. He takes Simon to the hospital, where someone once again attempts to kill the boy. Why? I gave it away at the very beginning, but the puzzle is much more complicated than that. It’s worth watching. For pure entertainment, but also for a fresh, broader perspective on autism. Although most people have probably already seen it—after all, the film is now 15 years old.