In An Open Door: Temple Grandin, director John Barnhardt looks at her life through interviews with friends and colleagues and Dr. Grandin herself.
Director: John Barnhardt
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 60′
U.S. Release: August 12, 2025
U.K. Release: TBA
Where to Watch: On Digital & VOD
Temple Grandin is an impressive woman. She is admired by both animal rights activists and executives in meat processing plants. She is an autism advocate and a professor. In his documentary An Open Door: Temple Grandin, director John Barnhardt gives an overview of Dr. Grandin’s life and work. While there is much to love in this film, its short run time and broad scope do leave it feeling somewhat surface-level in its examination of its subject.
In 1947, when Dr. Grandin was born, an autism diagnosis was rare, and when it happened, it almost always resulted in the patient being institutionalized. Grandin expresses gratitude that when her parents recognized that she had some differences, they took her to a neurologist rather than simply sending her away. She also had a caring teacher who explained to her peers that Temple had an invisible disability that headed off teasing from her fellow students. That early intervention allowed her to discover where her interests lay and find the tools that would allow her to be productive, a fact she emphasizes throughout the film.
Dr. Grandin does talk about some of the more difficult aspects of her path to where she is now. While her elementary years were positive, her neurodiversity began to cause more difficulties for her as she entered high school. She was fascinated with horses, and that singular interest created some struggles for her with her high school peers. Nevertheless, she continued focusing on her interests and trying to find those she could connect with in those areas.
One of the aspects of An Open Door that works well is the concept of doors. Dr. Grandin shares about pitching an article to a small farm magazine. Her decision to pursue that avenue, simply by going up to the editor and asking him for his card, allowed her to get her foot into an industry that was not particularly open to women. She then shares how her work at the local level led to an opportunity to work for a national magazine. The disappointing part of this is that as the film progresses, it loses the thread on the door theme. The idea of looking for openings and also providing those chances for others is present throughout the documentary, but the strong connection to doors is lost.
An Open Door includes numerous interviews with Dr. Grandin herself, as well as conversations with people she has worked with in various capacities over the years. It is genuinely lovely to see her friends and colleagues share about their interactions with her over the years. There are moments, as the documentary progresses, where it begins to feel a bit more hagiography than biography about Temple. Which is not to say that every documentary needs to find a sordid story in the midst of the primary one, but in this case, the sheer volume of effusive praise does feel borderline excessive. At times, it almost feels more like a eulogy than a documentary in its exclusively positive direction.
That said, Temple Grandin has led a remarkable life. She made a name for herself by radically changing the way livestock was handled, trying to make both the animals’ lives and deaths more meaningful, which, in turn, increases profitability. Her work revolutionized the industry and has gained recognition from people across the spectrum.
An Open Door also highlights her activism in the autism community. She shares about how she is stopped regularly by both autistic people and parents of kids with autism who want to thank her for modeling what life can be like. Dr. Grandin is a prolific writer, and she has used funds from some of her books to help others access education that they could not otherwise. Her call for people of varying learning styles to work together is something that could make life better for everyone, as she has demonstrated over her life.
“Inspirational” can be a loaded word when talking about disabilities, but it does apply when talking about Temple Grandin. Her work with animal welfare inspires those who wish to make life better, even for our food. Her work with the autism community has shown countless people that neurodiversity is an asset, not a liability. And her decision to search for open doors should be an inspiration to all of us to keep our eyes open for opportunities that are waiting if we just ask. An Open Door: Temple Grandin could benefit from being a bit more fleshed out, but the woman herself is the real deal.
An Open Door: Temple Grandin – Movie Plot & Recap
Synopsis:
This documentary is a near hagiographic look at the life of Dr. Temple Grandin through interviews with those who have known her through the years and the woman herself.
Pros:
- The short run time makes it digestible for a broad audience
- Plenty of interviews with people who know her well
Cons:
- Because it covers Grandin’s entire life, it is fairly shallow
- Borders on excessively effusive
An Open Door: Temple Grandin will be released on VOD on August 12, 2025.
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