Aaron (Mark Elias), of Boy Makes Girl, is a little down on his luck. Not only is he on the high side of functional autism, but his mum has recently died, and he has exactly two friends in the world; Geneva (Saundra McClain), who runs the cafe where he has a couple of unfortunate experiences with women in an attempt to find his soulmate, and a stuffed bear named Eddie. From the start, Aaron’s sweet awkwardness is evident, and it’s going to take a special lady to fill the gap in his heart. So special in fact that he’s growing weary of trying, and, as an IT whizzkid who works for NASA and the NRA, he decides to make one himself; all the while having online therapy sessions and keeping reams of diaries about his thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Things aren’t all tough for Aaron though, as before she died his mum was caregiver to an elderly gent called Ben (Paul Dooley), who proves to be a great grounding influence with his brash down-to-earth manner and less-than-legal ways of acquiring Oxycontin for his back pain. An unsteady friendship develops between the two, which teaches Aaron a thing or two about real life, all of which he notes down in his ever-present journal. In the meantime, tired of waiting for the right girl to come along, Aaron is working on Emma, his robot, to fill the gap where his ideal companion should be.

Things seem to go well on this score to begin with as Emma (Meeghan Holaway) is as innocent of the world’s ways as Aaron himself. But when Emma’s intelligence and curiosity begin to reach beyond the realms Aaron has thought about, it leads to awakenings about the world which neither of them are going to find easy.

Directed by Mark Elias and Mark David, Boy Makes Girl is a heartbreakingly sweet glimpse into the world of the developmentally challenged, with hints of Rain Man (1989) and Weird Science (1985). Having worked with people on the autistic spectrum I can only applaud Elias’s performance as he struggles to take on the harsh realities life throws in his path, as well as his confusion about Emma no longer being something he has total control over. Holaway’s part is also played to perfection, picking out the troubles both of them are having in sharp relief as they find themselves trying desperately to fit into normality, while life itself lets them down in their childlike innocence.

Emma breaking her programming and branching out on her own while Aaron only realises how he feels about her when she leaves is handled with true delicacy.  Out of his depth, he realises what it is to love, to miss someone. This is compounded when he visits Ben and finds he’s died. Ben inspired him to get real; to try new things, things he was afraid to do before. To grow as a person outside of his safe bubble. Now he has to make the choice between staying in that bubble or following Emma into a new world outside a journal full of emojis and a stuffed Bear.

There’s a struggle to fit into an often harsh and uncaring universe which offers sentiment without schmaltz, and I’m not ashamed to say it made me leak at the eyes a little. Elias himself is on the spectrum, which I found out after a little digging. This only adds to the poignancy. And even though the cast is small I can’t fault anyone’s performance; Mark Dooley as Ben in particular stands out as his gruff grumpiness pins Aaron down and forces him to get out there into real life.

Boy Makes Girl is a truly lovely film.

6 out of 10 Brave New Worlds