The Rainbow Kid is a gritty coming of age story that follows Eugene, a teenager with Down syndrome, on the journey of his life. Obsessed with everything rainbows, whether it’s their beauty, their symbolism, or the myths that surround them, this obsession acts as an escape from his real life, which is a mess: he’s bullied at school, his hard-bitten mom neglects him, and the girl he likes doesn’t notice him. Worse, he discovers that he and his mom are on the verge of being evicted. Eugene decides to take matters into his own hands. He’ll find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Eugene will save the day.
An optimistic Eugene sets out on an adventure across rural Ontario and encounters a host of larger than life characters: an alcoholic dowser, a cross dressing punk rocker, and a special needs girl with a disturbing home life. As he struggles to adapt and understand the worrisome situations he finds himself in, a strange thing happens: he begins to experience rainbow mythologies first hand, but the line between fact and fiction soon blur together. Eugene’s odyssey becomes more and more dangerous, but he forges ahead, taking the challenges head on. The Rainbow Kid is a story of growth, coming of age, and most of all, hope.