The Horse Boy draws an unlikely link between autism and shamanism, and the result is no Jenny McCarthy bullshit-a-thon. Because of his severe condition, Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff’s four-year-old son, Rowan, is prone to incontinence and tantrums, but prop him on a horse and his screaming fits stop instantly. Michel Orion Scott’s documentary follows the family as they set out on a shaman-to-shaman horseback trek across Mongolia, hoping to find some relief for Rowan’s plight. In the end, it is the portrait of the boy’s day-to-day pain, rather than the exotic foreign trip, that provides the most searing insight into his puzzling state.

Yet, like the shamans he visits, Rowan is isolated. While Scott captures his vulnerability, he doesn’t address much else. Isaacson, a journalist who produced and narrates the film, seems to guide the story in relation to his son. While interviews with autism experts provide a solid counterpoint to the deeply mystical shamans, Scott stays close by the Isaacsons’ side, offering only cursory glimpses into the shamanic communities they visit.

Yet, despite its by-the-book documentary style and mawkish soundtrack, The Horse Boy is a powerful and personal saga with a provocative ending — that is, until the family plugs the horse-therapy centre they have set up since the film was shot.