Christopher Zalla’s “Radical”

Radical (2023) - Christopher Zalla, Mexico

“It challenges but isn’t too challenging, it’s heartwarming without being sweet and it’s familiar while still feeling fresh.”

★★★★

Compared by many to Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, this only has fleeting similarities. Based on a Wired articled from 2013 title “A Radical Way of Unleashing a Generation of Geniuses” by Joshua Davis, it tells the true story of a failing primary school in Mexico near the US border and the impact of a radical new teacher. Unlike Weir’s film set in a priveleged world, this begins in a dusty wasteland where the students live in ramshackle shacks by the sea, decaying tenaments or at the foot of a mountain of trash. It’s a fascinating look at a world most of us will never see but there are also lessons to be learned in terms of how we teach our children and a particularly dim view of measuring childrens’ progress through tests. This isn’t a million miles away from the coordinate measurement of a poem’s greatness seen in Dead Poets, but even worse as we do this to our own children.

Though we’ve seen films broadly in the same vein (the aforementioned Dead Poets Society as well as To Sir With Love (1967), Stand and Deliver (1988) to name a few), this manages to maneuver around the sickly tropes for something more nuanced. Eugenio Derbez plays Sergio, the newcomer teacher to Jose Urbina Lopez Elementary who brings a new approach to learning encouraging independent thought and to a great degree, teaching them how to find answers for themselves. Derbez approaches the role with humility as Sergio as well as the children has confidence issues despite his impulsive outlook. The child actors are also superb and their stories drawn from reality feel down to earth and convincing underlining the strength required to keep the flame of hope burning. But perhaps one of the more interesting relationships is Sergio’s friendship with the school principal, Chucho, played perfectly by Daniel Haddad who has been following all the guidance but getting nowhere.

There’s a lot to think about particularly around how we educate and value our children plus this is a story I think most will enjoy. It challenges but isn’t too challenging, it’s heartwarming without being sweet and it’s familiar while still feeling fresh.