The last two decades of the 20th century were a bit of a golden age for films about inspirational teachers. Key texts Dead Poets Society, Stand and Deliver, Lean on Me, and Dangerous Minds mingled with minor touchstones like Mr. Holland’s Opus, School Ties, and of course, the classic Jim Belushi vehicle, The Principal. And while there’s been a few attempts to keep the fire burning since then (e.g., The School of Rock), the kinds of stories being told around education recently have been decidedly downbeat (unless being violently browbeaten by J.K. Simmons is your thing; nothing wrong with that). As the grievous assault on the education system persists in the real world, inspiring tales from the classroom have been usurped by “life on the frontlines” dispatches, culture war grandstanding, and standardized test horror shows. Which is why Radical, a film that neatly meshes the new and the old, feels novel – never mind that you’ve heard the melody in a dozen other songs.
Based on a true story, and adapted by a 2013 Wired article by Joshua Davis (“A Radical Way of Unleashing a Generation of Geniuses“), the film casts Mexican superstar Eugenio Derbez (CODA) as Sergio Juárez, a sixth grade teacher who has come to work in the neglected bordertown of Maramoros, a place where the sound of gunfire and the dead bodies it results in are just part of the landscape. Sergio has brought some unconventional teaching methods with him, such as eschewing the required curriculum in favor of the open discourse of the Socratic variety. The students control which avenues of learning these sessions involve, in this case, physics, astronomy, and appropriately, John Stuart Mill’s theories of utilitarianism. Initially running afoul of the school director, Checho (Haddad), Sergio soon has him on his side. It is his co-workers on the faculty who prove to be a problem. A financial bonus to the school with the highest national exam score has the staff “teaching to the test,” and in this corrupt little town, this year’s test has already been provided to the teachers, so why doesn’t Sergio just fall in line? Well, we all know this answer. It’s the children. He’s thinking of the children.
And who are these children? A trio fleshed out, and their circumstances are familiar. Lupe (Solis) is the oldest of three, and her mother is pregnant with a fourth. Both her parents work, her father during the day, her mother at night. Lupe is an integral part of the family, responsible for all domestic duties, but Sergio has lit a spark in her. She wants to study philosophy. She wants to be a professor. Paloma (Trejo) lives with her junk dealer father at the town’s garbage dump, but Sergio quickly realizes that she has a genius level aptitude for math and science. She wants to be an astronaut. Nico (Guardiola) is the class clown who seems to be on the same path laid out by his older brother: working for the local drug dealer. Thanks to Sergio, he realizes he may have other options.
Radical may hit all the requisite narrative arcs, but it does so with a level of nuance and examination that other films of this type either gloss over or ignore entirely. What is the point, for example, of filling these students’ heads full of dreams when the reality is that their lives have been preordained from birth? Isn’t that just a cruel joke? The way the film handles this and other themes is heartfelt and honest, avoiding the base inclination to “pity the poor people.” The result is refreshing and inspired.
This article appears in Best of Austin: Restaurants 2023.