Radical (2023)

"Sergio" (Eugenio Derbez) is a new teacher at a primary school in a run-down Mexican town where his unorthodox teaching methods cause a bit of consternation for the head teacher "Chucho" (Daniel Haddad). There's a curriculum that they are supposed to follow and this school is the very worst in the land. To inspire better results, the teachers are offered bonuses if their pupils can improve, so imagine their chagrin when "Sergio" starts upturning tables and using the school's water reservoir to illustrate the relationship between weight and density. Not only must this teacher galvanise his hitherto indifferent students, but he has to win over his sceptical boss else he's going to end up out of a job! What now ensues is based on a true story and I think could be doing with being shown in classrooms everywhere. Not just because it clearly demonstrates the sheer power an inspirational teacher has to enable young minds, but also to remind kids in better off communities that education (with our without technology) is a thing to be valued. This man offers them a template to teach themselves; to solve problems and develop teamwork skills and to realise that their options are not quite as limited as might have seemed when they started compulsory schooling with precious little interest in any of it. It also asks questions about the rigid nature of repetitive learning and invites us to consider what is or isn't a teacher's place in a community that is historically constrained by perceptions of realism. Can any of these youngsters really aim high and deliver, or is it all pipe dreams? There's a fun dynamic between Derbez and Haddad and the storyline allows us to observe some of the more salient issues that affect these people growing up - poverty, drugs, corruption and family all playing their own decisive part in influencing how education fits into their society. Two hours just flies by, here, and there's plenty of entertainment mingled in with the more serious food for thought. Well worth two hours, I'd say.