Season 5 – Small Axe

Audience Reviews

View All (8) audience reviews

david f The protagonist of this film is a young Black boy who dreams of being an astronaut and is sent to a "special school" for his disruptive behaviour in class and his IQ test results. While he doesn't get much positive attention even from his family up till then, he does start to get saved with the help of some activists who are secretly looking into just what those "special schools" are all about. I liked how this film dramatized some social problems that are often mostly dealt with in dry bureaucratic reports or journalism but this film really puts a face on the problem. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Me cuesta simpatizar con personajes descerebrados, y en esta película hay muchos, aunque resulta lo suficientemente potente para que te importe la historia, y la madre es un muy buen personaje Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member This is how you maximize the key content in a film. Want to be a fine director? Then learn to be a good editor. If you do, then you too can make such worthy movies as these Small Axes films that are 80 min. or under, with three no more than 70 min. Another fine screenplay from McQueen and Siddons along with further deft skill at directing from McQueen breathes very authentic life into this movie that shows the systematic (and systemic) racial bias again West Indians by the British school system and the state. The Intent was to suppress black citizens by insuring their inability to achieve upward mobility by sticking them as children in these 'schools' for 'sub-normal' intelligence which would go on their permanent records and exclude them from any legitimate shot at college. Using bullshit vacant excuses of being 'too rowdy', 'acting up', being distractions, the schools could simply sign the paper work that system sent their way and the kids were gone. Not their problem. So they got put into schools with other minority kids, children with legitimate learning disabilities, those with actual behavioral problems with biological explanations, and even those with mental illness. The scene near the end shows clearly what a school atmosphere should always be like- one with students feeling wanted, welcomed, safe, and so eager to learn; esp. eager to learn what relates to their actual lives. Again, a subtle hand by McQueen is at work. Sandy is quite good as the lead, Kingsley. Also strong are Sharlene White, Naomi Ackie, Jo Martin, and Tamara Lawrence. 3.4 stars Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member In what serves as the anthology's light-hearted comedy, Steve McQueen captures the full effect of systemic bigotry in one hour; the institutionalized and cultural segregation, the forced busyness of both parents, the emotional and physical exhaustion, even the resilience in the face of seeming futility. As a twist on the teacher-savior narrative, every moment in the classroom is excellent, especially the authentically cringe-y House of the Rising Sun performance. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member It's trying to make a valid point about balancing an education system, but focusses more on the 'nothingness' of the 'Special School' than actually showing actions that affected real change for those students being shackled. The dialogue makes those points, but all other elements of the story fall short, so it comes across as being messy and disorganised Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member An absolute powerhouse of a film. Entertaining and relevant ranging from the person to the political. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Small Axe — Season 5

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW