Playground

Released Feb 11, 2022

1h 12m

Drama

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Tomatometer

63 Reviews

77%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

In this debut feature by writer-director Laura Wandel, the everyday reality of grade school is seen from a child's-eye-view as an obstacle course of degradation and abuse. Following 7-year-old Nora and her big brother Abel, we see Nora struggling to fit in before finding her place on the schoolyard. One day, she notices Abel being bullied by other kids, and though she rushes to protect him by warning their father, Abel forces her to remain silent, while he endures more humiliation and harassment by his peers. Transposing the gritty realism of such filmmakers as Jacques Audiard and the Dardennes Brothers to the inner world of kids, Wandel crafts an empathetic and visceral portrait of the cruelty of children, and the failure of adults to protect them. Shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Film.

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Critics Consensus

As honest as it is empathetic, Playground presents a sensitive yet hard-hitting child's-eye view of life in elementary school.

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Danny Leigh

Financial Times

Wandel’s film is too wrenching to be called a movie for children. But children would recognise the truth and the complexity of it, which is surely the highest praise.

Rated: 5/5

Jun 10, 2022

Full Review

Ryan Gilbey

New Statesman

Playground is commendable in treating break-time brouhahas like the far-reaching, formative conflicts they really are.

Apr 27, 2022

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

It’s a remarkable achievement.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 24, 2022

Full Review

Sarah Boslaugh

TheArtsStl

You see Nora’s world literally from her point of view as the camera mostly shoots from the level of her head, so adults appear like disembodied legs and torsos unless they make the effort to get down to the kids’ level.

Rated: 8/10

Apr 18, 2024

Full Review

Kent Turner

Film-Forward.com

This may be the most stress-inducing, heartbreaking movie of 2022, and it’s only 72-minutes long.

Rated: 4/4

Dec 20, 2022

Full Review

Carlos Bonfil

La Jornada

The director builds a labyrinth of conflicting feelings, betrayal, resentment, the power of guilt, and the possibility of reconciliation, to lucidly and tenderly achieve this magnificent portrait of childhood. [Full review in Spanish]

Nov 21, 2022

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elana k

I just got tired of looking at the adorable child's face.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/30/23

Full Review

Jason R

I think this is our first Belgian film - in fact it even might be our first Belgian anything! I know this exists but that's as far as it goes for me - I'm assuming at least some of it is set in a playground. Yup - a playground is definitely involved. We basically follow Nora around as she starts school - unsure at first, but slowly gaining confidence and friends as she finds her feet. Unfortunately, her older brother Abel isn't having a great time of it with bullies and Nora's sense of injustice is fired up. But her best efforts to fix things, unsurprisingly, don't have the desired effect. It's all far too believable and at times you do despair, but it does manage to come up with a good ending which doesn't tie things up nicely but does offer some hope. The film REALLY focuses on Nora so it's going to live or die on Maya Vanderbeque's performance and, as The Guardian says, she is indeed brilliant in this - it would be an impressive performance at any age and she absolutely nails it. Günter Duret is also good as Abel (her brother) in a pretty unflattering role, with him and Maya displaying many aspects of a sibling relationship well. Also worth of a mention are Karim Leklou as her dad (who Wikipedia tells me is named Finnegan for no obvious reason) and Laura Verlinden as Mme Agnes (her teacher) who portray different aspects of adult helplessness - but my major take away was that her dad really should have taught her to tie her laces before she went to school! The film captures the randomness and unfairness of bullying accurately and the (sometimes unintentional) cruelty of children, but also the innocence and joy of play. It's also absolutely heartbreaking at times - from the perspective of the children, the parents and the teachers because there's obviously no easy answer to these things. And, as The Guardian says, it is indeed a short, intense film - 72 minutes! The film's direction (Laura Wandel, with her debut) is well thought out with most of the film taking place at Nora's level which is very effective (we either only see the waistline of adults or they have to bend down to join the shot) and the use of sound is also impressive with random school noises contrasting well with some very effective silence or whispers. It's also interesting that French title is "a world" because it really gives you impression that school is Nora's world. I really liked this film - it's well put together and really pulls at your emotions with a stunning central performance (and there's no absolutely no danger of it outstaying its welcome). So it's a strong recommendation from me - at time of writing it's available to rent in all the usual places.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Amazing acting from the little girl. The teachers weren’t much help. Even the teacher that was meant to be the nice one - really wasn’t. The father has the most to answer for. You would have to know something is up if your kids favourite ice cream is vanilla 🙄

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/30/23

Full Review

denis t

It's a masterpiece. Something I will not forget. I thank everyone who made it 🙏

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

isla s

This is quite a powerful film, even quietly devastating in a way, about the impact and implications of childhood bullying. Its hard not to feel for both Nora and her dad, as well as her brother Abel. Imagining myself in Nora's shoes, I'm not sure what I'd do differently. It seemed very realistic and its certainly insightful. A good film for starting a discussion about school bullying, I'd recommend this, yes.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Childhood not unlike jungle.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

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Laura Wandel

Director

Maya Vanderbeque

Nora

Günter Duret

Abel

Karim Leklou

Finnigan

Laura Verlinden

Agnes

Simon Caudry

Antoine

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Playground: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In this debut feature by writer-director Laura Wandel, the everyday reality of grade school is seen from a child's-eye-view as an obstacle course of degradation and abuse. Following 7-year-old Nora and her big brother Abel, we see Nora struggling to fit in before finding her place on the schoolyard. One day, she notices Abel being bullied by other kids, and though she rushes to protect him by warning their father, Abel forces her to remain silent, while he endures more humiliation and harassment by his peers. Transposing the gritty realism of such filmmakers as Jacques Audiard and the Dardennes Brothers to the inner world of kids, Wandel crafts an empathetic and visceral portrait of the cruelty of children, and the failure of adults to protect them. Shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Film.

Director: Laura Wandel
Screenwriter: Laura Wandel
Distributor: Film Movement
Production Co: Dragons Films, Lunanime
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 11, 2022, Limited
Runtime: 1h 12m
Sound Mix: Digital 5.1
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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