Learn to Question the World Around You and Educate Yourself

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MOVIE REVIEW
Young Plato
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Genre: Documentary
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director(s): Declan McGrath, Neasa Ní Chianáin
Writer(s): Etienne Essery, Declan McGrath, Neasa Ní Chianáin
Where To Watch: Theatrical release in NEW YORK (Angelika Film Center) and Boston (Dedham Community Theater) on Friday, September 23, with a regional expansion to follow on Friday, September 30

RAVING REVIEW: A powerful look at a community that struggles to exist felt more like a live-action retelling than a documentary.

While that may not sound like the most positive review, I mean it with the utmost respect for the entirety of this project. It’s one thing to shoot a documentary, and it’s another thing entirely to make that documentary so believable that it feels almost too real. I was so engulfed in the progression of this story that I found myself forgetting I was watching a documentary; instead, it felt like I was just watching a standard film.

A film that covers post-conflict Belfast's Ardoyne working class and their battles against poverty, drugs, and guns. The impossibility here is that this film covers so many aspects of everyday life for this community that you wouldn’t think there was any way that it could work. It’s interesting to see Headmaster Kevin McArevey take the children of this community and guide them in critical thinking, allowing them to think for themselves. At times this causes issues between the children, but more importantly, it opens up their view of the world and allows them to question everything.

Generally speaking, we see the Headmaster take these children under his wing, but instead of being conservative and restricting them, he allows them to be themselves. He is encouraging growth and free thinking while still within the confines of a school environment with rules and regulations to follow. I found this to be a film that was very much about a small community but a parallel to the world we live in.

What would happen if we encouraged children to think independently and gave them the tools and encouragement to do so? How much better would this world be if they learned from a young age to question things instead of blindly following?

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