Radical, 2023.
Written and Directed by Christopher Zalla.
Starring Eugenio Derbez, Daniel Haddad, Jennifer Trejo, Mia Fernanda Solis, Danilo Guardiola Escobar, Gilberto Barraza, Víctor Estrada, Manuel Márquez, Christian Gonzalez, Xochiquetzal Martínez, Edmundo Munoz, Enoc Leaño, Manuel Cruz Vivas, and Erwin Veytia.
SYNOPSIS:
A teacher in a Mexican border town full of neglect, corruption, and violence, tries a radical new method to unlock their students’ curiosity, potential – and maybe even their genius.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Radical wouldn’t exist.
The only way to make yet another movie about an inspirational schoolteacher trying to make a positive difference for his students living in an impoverished environment surrounded by violence, drugs, and broken homes is to tell the story with earnestness and not to fixate on the poverty porn aspect. That steep pitfall is indeed sidestepped here. For writer/director Christopher Zalla (based on an article by Joshua Davis and actual events), Radical also benefits from having a committed, energy-bolt Eugenio Derbez, who, between this and CODA, seems to be developing a stranglehold on playing supremely creative, fun, and empowering educational instructors that make you wish you had them back when you were growing up.
Willingly seeking out a job teaching sixth graders at Escuela José Urbina López in Matamoros, an elementary school behind the curve and still without a computer lab well into the year 2012, Sergio Juarez Correa (Eugenio Derbez) begins the school year by catching the kids off guard, having them stumble into a classroom with school desks turned upside down (the room looks like it was destroyed and raided) and tossed in a pile, flailing about pretending that the floor is the ocean and that he is sinking, using this as a launching point for a mathematics equation regarding how many lifeboats (in this scenario, there the desks) it would take to save everyone.
Not only does Radical have the perfect performer to sell the physical comedy of this silliness, but the unorthodox yet highly entertaining teaching method is successful at instantly making it believable that these otherwise indifferent children would play along and want to give Sergio a chance. As the classes continue, the lesson is expanded into helping the children understand how objects float, advanced equations involving density and mass, and more that are highly infectious fun. I can’t stress enough that anytime the film is taking viewers inside this crazy classroom, Radical is a blast.
Fortunately, Radical is also effective outside the classroom, aware not to obsess over the violence outside, only presenting or hinting at it tastefully to convey a sense of what this environment is like. The script wisely focuses on some key children characters without diminishing their arcs into ham-fisted, cliché plot beats. If anything, the setups to those traditional side stories are here but typically subverted to cleverly allow the film to focus on what works, finding the humanity in these kids.
Take young Nico (Danilo Guardiola), for example. He is halfway into joining a dangerous gang when we meet him, but instead of following his descent into that violence whenever he is not inside the classroom, Radical takes the approach that the boy instantly realizes that maybe he is smart and doesn’t have to go down a life of crime, slowly trying to ease his way away from the hoodlums.
Some dynamics are more familiar, such as Paloma (Jennifer Trejo) wanting to become an aerospace engineer, which seems unlikely coming from extreme poverty and having a father who would rather not have his daughter’s head filled with such ambition only to be let down the end potentially. Together, they eke out an existence roaming the nearby trash heap, searching for in-demand parts to sell for small amounts of money here and there. However, during one of Sergio’s lectures, he tells an inspirational story essentially about how, if life covers you in the dirt, you can’t allow yourself to find yourself buried underneath but to find yourself standing on top of the dirt. This lesson is poetically paid off late in the narrative with striking photography from Mateo Londono framing Sergio at the bottom of the mountainous trash heap in a moving conversation with Paloma standing at the top.
Then there is Lupe (Mia Fernanda Solis), who finds herself hooked on philosophy and reading, hoping to expand her education further, only to become devastated when her mom lets her know that because she is pregnant again, she might not even send her to school the following year, keeping her at home to help raise yet another child. This allows the topic of abortion to pop up during one of the philosophy conversations, which is also handled sensitively.
There are still formulaic hurdles for Sergio and the children to overcome, such as a selfish group of teachers wanting him to focus on preparing the kids for a specific exam that, if the children do well on, all teachers receive a bonus payment. Sergio happens not to see much value in that testing, choosing to carve out his own teaching path. Even if it makes him some enemies. Luckily, the school’s director (Daniel Haddad) remains on his side and quickly comes around to the progress Sergio is making rather than staying a stubborn obstacle.
Inevitably, tragedy also strikes, but also through careful buildup and a delicate brief transition into harrowing territory. Similar to everything else here, the ending to Radical manages to feel earned and sincere even in its predictable sentimentality. Multiple tricky needles are being threaded here, balancing inspiration and the harsh realities of this Mexican border town without falling into severe emotional manipulation on either side. Most importantly, Eugenio Derbez knows how to command a classroom and screen, ensuring the film’s tone and heart are always in the right place.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
