We have both an autistic granddaughter and a chihuahua living with us, so this movie was a perfect evening's entertainment. Wonderful acting by so many of the characters. The story does a beautiful job of conveying how people on the autistic spectrum are often mistaken as fully functioning and capable individuals on first impression....and how many of them have intense focus and resourcefulness when it comes to dealing with the things that matter to them. And the script had so many brilliant little plot twists......My favorite perhaps was the policeman who happens to be fluent in Klingon. You'll just have to watch the movie if you want to know the rest. :-)It's a beautiful little movie with a feel good ending.

Although institutionalization was shown as a very intimate & positive environment, which is a positive, in many cases it's not so homey and in fact even in small family placement the adopting family can be in it mostly for the large amount of money allocated for care each month. Anyway, enjoyable story. Acting was good all around although autistic portrayal a bit too cinematic. Would have been interesting to have Elle Fanning aged to play the role of the elder sister. Odd closing scenes where Wendy's (Dakota) chihuahua, Pete (which he performed skillfully), was able to find his way home not to Wendy's home institution, but to her sister's house. Also, that the house had an unexplained "For Sale" sign in the yard.

This is a great film about creative and individual minds and about ambition and hope. If you are a star trek fan you'll also love this non sci/fi film.I'm giving away no spoilers for Trekkies :-)

Please Stand By (2017) This is a comedy drama film about a young Asperger syndrome, autistic woman who runs away from her caregiver in an attempt to submit her manuscript to a Star Trek writing competition. It stars Dakota Fanning and received mixed reviews, while doing poorly at the box office. Some blame its lack of authenticity was cause for the poor reviews. It is not as much its lack of authenticity, but more likely its lack of risks that lead to the reviews. The film may just be a little too upbeat for the subject matter. Although, not a bad film, it just didn't have any real substance.