This was probably the shortest film I've ever seen, but it had a powerful message, that having problems with learning doesn't make someone less intelligent than the next person. I don't have dyslexia, so I can't speak on it personally, but I'm sure it's a disorder that's hard to live with, due to the embarrassment and shame that it causes for the person who has it, particularly when they go to school. Kids who have dyslexia can be successful when it comes to academics - they just need modifications to their learning, such as tutoring and small class sizes.

Not Broken is a story about Winter Knight (Ann Marie Ryan),a dyslexic girl who is exceptionally talented when it comes to art. The movie is a progression of her life from the time she's a toddler to the age of 18. When she's little and her mom (Natalie King) is trying to teach her about numbers and letters, she's not interested and would rather draw instead. When she's in elementary school her mom takes her to a neuropsychologist, and that's when she's diagnosed with dyslexia. Winter struggles throughout high school, and that's when she makes a suggestion to her mom that perhaps she would have less of a hard time if she obtained a job. But she experiences difficulties with that as well. One day while working in a coffeeshop, after taking a customer's order and asking for her name, she struggles to write her name on the cup, so she draws her face instead, which looks beautiful. She starts doing this for all of the customers. After going through her challenges with reading, she realizes there's nothing wrong with being different, as differences are what make all of us special. It's a nice family-oriented movie. I definitely recommend for parents who have a dyslexic child.

This film, which is excellently directed, cast, and performed, will leave you inspired and encouraged. Winter, the main character, grows up before our eyes. We see and feel her struggles with her disability. We feel her hopelessness. And then we celebrate with her when she discovers that she is not only "not broken", but that she is actually quite talented. More importantly, she finds great joy in helping other "disabled" people find this truth as well.

The music was moving and was obviously carefully selected. It fits each scene beautifully.

It is almost impossible to believe that the director is a young teenager. Her talent and insight into human nature will inspire everyone who is lucky enough to view this wonderful film!!

If anyone can tell me what the plot of this film is I will revoke this poor review.

A few things that got on my nerves:

1. The films 'soundtrack' seemed to be the same 2 songs on loop. They didn't seem to fit with the narrative at all and made it feel long and slow.

2. The costuming was weird. Why was the mom dressed more fashionably than the main character? She is suppose to be 17 or 18 so why is she dressed like a 35 year old? Its not huge but it did bother me.

3. The script was really awkward. I could blame the actors but it seemed like they all as good as they could with the script provided. Some of the plot points felt random (the momentary love story, the older lady plot line, her art dreams going out the window , the random finale with the llamas. I thought for a minute that she got another job working out at a ranch or something. It felt out of place.)

I hope everyone involved in this felt is proud but I can't recommend it to anyone but quite religious people that want to show their children a narrative written by a young person.

All in all if this was written and directed by a 40 year old I would give it 1 star. Due to the directors apparent youth I gave it a 5/10.