Mexican-Americans need to grab their Spanish-speaking parents and watch Radical. American theaters released the comedy-drama to the public on November 3, 2023, and it is available on streaming services like VIX, Amazon Prime Video, and Sling TV. 

Director Christopher Zalla finally gets his big break, with Radical winning awards at film festivals for example, the Richard D. Propes Social Impact Award at the Heartland International Film Festival and the Audience Overall Favorite at the Mill Valley Film Festival. 

The theme of the movie isn’t something new, we’ve seen the teacher savior trope used in films multiple times before such as in Stand and Deliver and Dead Poets Society. What makes this movie stand out is that it is an all-Spanish film set in Mexico, making it a tear-jerker movie that most Hispanics can relate to.

The film follows Sergio Juarez (Eugenio Debrez), a new unconventional teacher working at Jose Urbina Lopez Primary School in Matamoros, a border town. It is set in 2011, in the middle of the bloodiest drug-dealing gang war. The school is run down, lacking educational resources like library books and students have the worst academic scores in the country. While the whole faculty prioritizes getting the students prepared for the government-mandated test, Sergio focuses on teaching his students in unorthodox ways that will pique their interests. 

Inspired by a Mexican success story written in Wired’s 2013 article, “A Radical Way of Unleashing a Generation of Geniuses”, Radical focuses on the story of Paloma Noyola Bueno, a student living in the dumps of Matamoros who became famous in 2013 at 12 years old after scoring a 921 on the Mexican SATs, scoring the best in the country. The film did a great job of accurately representing Paloma and Sergio’s lives, even including Sergio’s teaching inspiration. Although, characters like Nico played by Danilo Guardiola, and Lupe played by Mia Fernanda Solis were made up. Their characters were composed of multiple experiences of real-life students at Jose Urbina Lopez Primary School. Nico’s romantic interest in Paloma is based on an actual student but overall Nico and Lupe aren’t based on only one person. 

Radical is a beautiful movie that takes on a heavy topic while cracking jokes from time to time. As a Mexican-American, I loved the movie along with its representation of Mexican life. Although the students’ experiences weren’t something that I’ve gone through personally, just knowing that my parents and my family went through something similar was enough to get the water flowing. Even the film’s soundtrack resonated with me and further emphasized the intense emotional mood. My favorite being, Al Piel de un Árbol by Juan Pablo Villa, which showcased the traditional Canto Cardenche, a melancholy acapella whose style has been passed from generation to generation. The soundtrack was soulful and striking and was often played in the saddest moments, making it the perfect combination for a cathartic scene.

Critics of the movie claimed that the film wasn’t anything special because of the overused and cliche theme of a passionate teacher lifting the spirits of struggling students. I highly disagree with this take, although the general theme of the story has been used before, its cultural connection has a way of healing the hearts of Mexicans who’ve lived through the same unfortunate events growing up. It’s a film meant to hit close to home for a specific audience, clearly, those out of the cultural loop wouldn’t fully grasp its significance. 

Although the film has become one of my favorites, it left me with a bittersweet feeling and many questions. Conflicts in the story prevent Paloma, Lupe, and Sergio from going back to school, yet after Principal Chucho’s (Daniel Haddad) encouragement Sergio decides to get back to work and convinces Paloma also to come back and take the test. But what about Lupe? In my heart, Lupe deserved her happy ending too, yet the last we see her is in a shot where she’s at home taking care of her newborn brother when she should be at school taking the test alongside her classmates. The second half of the movie didn’t let me enjoy the happy moments as it was one tragedy after another and Lupe’s ending was the final blow. 

If you are in need of a good cry and have a Hispanic background, Radical is a film for you. Mexican representation in the media is never enough, so I hope that Radical can be a stepping stone for Mexican culture to go mainstream. Although it was many of the child actors’ debuts, they embodied their characters and displayed moving emotions that touched the heart. I easily give this movie a 9/10 and can’t stress enough how impactful viewing this work was.