Radical
2023 · Mexico · 122 min
- Director
- Christopher Zalla
- Screenplay
- Christopher Zalla
- Producer
- Eugenio Derbez, Benjamin Odell, Joshua Davis
- Music
- Juan Pablo Villa
- Production company
- Epic Comics
Cast
What it is about
In 2011, young teacher Sergio Juárez Correa joins a primary school in Matamoros, a border city shaped by cartel violence and by some of the weakest academic results in Mexico. Against a routine built around standardized tests, he adopts an unconventional approach that encourages his sixth-grade pupils to think for themselves.
How it was made
Written and directed by Christopher Zalla, it is his second feature as a director. It is based on a 2013 Wired article by Joshua Davis. Eugenio Derbez, who also produced, plays Sergio, and Daniel Haddad plays the school principal. To illustrate a maths problem, the classroom is transformed: the desks are turned upside down to stand in for boats on an ocean.
Reception and legacy
The film premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Festival Favorite Award, and reached Mexican cinemas in October that year. Critics received it generally favorably: on Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of reviews were positive, although several reviewers pointed to a predictable, sentimental style. It was nominated for Best International Feature at the Astra Film Awards.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
Journalistic origin
The film takes as its starting point a 2013 Wired article by Joshua Davis about an unconventional teaching method.
Desks as boats
The classroom is reorganized with the desks turned upside down to represent lifeboats in an ocean, a visual device for teaching maths.
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.