A Boy's Life is a fascinating look into an impoverished, rural American family disrupted by the legacy of depression, abuse and mental disorders. In the small town of Europa, Mississippi, the director, Rory Kennedy, documents the shaping of a boy's life, as we witness a family's combative, destructive behaviour competing with a system that is attempting to help - a nurturing school, a family therapist and the Department of Health and Human Services.

By the film's end, the supposed problem-child has faded into normalcy, while his grandmother - by now diagnosed with Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy - has been transformed before our eyes, becoming something genuinely fascinating, terrifying and strange. - Edinburgh International Film Festival