Parents' Guide to Amazing Antoine

Amazing Antoine shows people at their most generous and giving. The people in Antoine's life, including parents, stepparents, siblings, caretakers, and teachers, all seemingly devote themselves to his care. Everyone here is endlessly patient and kind. The school he goes to is presented as one filled with teachers and aides who never lose their patience, never utter a cross word, and never get tired of the relentless hard work of caring for Antoine. If his care does actually go as smoothly as depicted here, at some point the filmmakers might have addressed what an extraordinary situation this is. Instead, it's presented as if anyone caring for someone with similar disabilities to Antoine's can take them skiing, on vacations, for equine therapy, and to elite schools, as the parents here do.

Some of these advantages seem out of reach for people of ordinary economic status, which is also never mentioned. The parents here have the good luck to be able to afford the large home, the personnel, and the goods and services that make Antoine's excellent care possible. No one is ever in a bad mood here, and Antoine is never anything but cheerful. Even when he is reluctant to be fed, he refuses the food politely, without a fuss, without being cranky or angry. Surely some of the people depicted in this documentary occasionally lose their cool. But since nothing like that is ever shown, this feels a bit misleading.