In STIM CINEMA, a young woman sits in a clinical setting, taking part in an eye-tracking assessment commonly used in autism diagnoses. During the test, she is shown a series of video clips representing “neurotypical” environments, such as a bustling city street, a shopping mall, and a gymnasium. As the red dots generated by the eye test apparatus trace the subject’s gaze, it becomes clear that these places are filled with naturally occurring repetitive, stim-like actions. Guiding our own gaze to the peripheries of the frame, STIM CINEMA invites us to examine every part of the scene more closely. Flanking the central screen, the left and right present deconstructed views of these scenes that uncover subtle movements and hidden rhythms, bringing attention to the sensory delight found in repetition and stimming.

Throughout the assessment—and unbeknownst to the off-screen facilitator of the eye tracking test—the participant notices a figure in the background of the footage: a young woman in a striking green coat. Drawn to her, a silent connection begins to form. This figure too appears to be quietly negotiating the sensory overload of the neurotypical world. She desires to move with the freedom of a blade of grass swaying the in wind, but feels constrained by the social conventions in spaces like her workplace or a crowded pub. Eventually, she discovers a space of liberation—where both she and the film installation itself are free to stim, sway, and move without restriction.

STIM CINEMA invites viewers into an active, immersive mode of looking—one where delight is found in every corner of the frame, much like a series of spot-the-difference games. Echoing the choreographed ensembles of Jacques Tati and the forensic gaze of Ridley Scott’s Esper machine in Blade Runner, STIM CINEMA embraces a fluid, ever-shifting cinematic form. In doing so, the Neurocultures Collective foreground the aesthetic and sensory pleasures of repetition, pattern, and micro-detail—sensibilities often resonant with autistic perception—while asserting that such modes of attention lie at the very core of moving image itself.