"Loop" Review

A non-verbal, autistic girl and a chatty boy are partnered on a canoeing trip. To complete their journey across an urban lake, they must both learn how the other experiences the world. (source)

This is the synopsis for the short film Pixar released last January; over a year later, Loop is still commended for its refreshingly accurate portrayal of an autistic teen, and widely regarded as a step in the right direction for representation. With the more recent release of Sia’s film Music, (a disastrous exhibition which not only perpetuates dangerous stereotypes and encourages life-threatening procedures, but also further traumatized the neurodivergent community) it seems there’s no better time to reflect on how proper representation can be executed via extensive research, which includes and accounts for the firsthand perspectives and thoughts of the marginalized group being depicted. Let’s begin with the premise of the film itself: Renee is an autistic girl with a love for canoeing, and Marcus, a sociable, allistic (meaning non-autistic) boy is selected to be her partner. Things get off to a rocky start, as he’s unsure of how to communicate with her; at one point, Renee stims by running her hands across some reeds, and he does the same, making for a heartfelt bonding moment. When she returns to looping a ringtone on her phone--an auditory stim she repeats throughout the short--Marcus gets the idea to take them to a tunnel so she can hear it reverberate. At first, Renee enjoys this, but the refraction of light and sound quickly becomes overwhelming, causing a sensory overload. They row ashore and Renee takes cover under the boat; Marcus is at a loss for what to do until he remembers the reeds. After he hands one to her, she calms down, and the two of them finally see eye-to-eye, and are friends thereafter.

“Animation takes you to a place where, if you want to have a conversation about something that matters, people are disarmed by it, they’re intrigued by it, there’s something that we experience that’s so directly visceral from it.” (Erica Milson)

Though not autistic herself, Loop’s director and writer, Erica Milson, was fully invested in the story she wanted to tell, and understood that telling it entailed she consult an autistic perspective. Before they proceeded with the project, she had her friend Adrian Citreon--who herself is non-verbal and autistic--read the script and offer her suggestions, which Milson subsequently integrated into the script. At several points in the film, the camera angle switches to Renee’s perspective; so as to ensure the accuracy of these shots--from the lighting, to the sound design, to where her eyes were directed--they turned to a group of consultants from the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN). To find Renee’s voice, they auditioned a few non-verbal talents before finally settling on Madison Bandy. Not only did they employ a unique style of directing when working with her, but because the studio was too overstimulating, the crew adapted to her needs and recorded her in environments where she was able to comfortably perform. In an interview with Respectability, Milson says:

“Our script required a fair amount of improvisation on her part, so we needed her to be in her element, comfortable with what was around her. As a result, we recorded at her house, with her family all together as a support system.”

The fact that both of the film’s leads are BIPOC is also a step in the right direction, especially considering that most mainstream autistic characters are white males. So many kids are able to see themselves in Renee, and Loop’s success is bound to open the door for more realistic and genuine representation of people with disabilities. Neurodivergency is not confined to a single race, gender, or definition; the more people realize how vital it is for autistic and disabled individuals to see themselves represented in media like this, the closer we get to eradicating the suffocating stigmas and stereotypes which continue to plague our society.

When creating Loop, Erica Milson was inspired by the motto of ASAN: Nothing About Us Without Us. “There's no way I'm going to make a film that doesn't honor that.” If more allistic creators keep this in mind when crafting autistic narratives, Loop is surely only the beginning of a brighter future for representation.