It’s described as a “punishment school”. José Urbina López Elementary, in the city of Matamoros, in the cartel-ravaged border country of north-eastern Mexico, is one of the poorest performing educational establishments in the country. The battle-weary staff consider it a win if more than half of the sixth graders just show up to class. Then a new teacher joins the school and turns the tired, rote-learned routine upside-down – literally. The kids arrive to discover that Mr Juárez (Eugenio Derbez), or Sergio, as he prefers to be called, has upended the tables and turned them into lifeboats in the shark-infested waters of the classroom. The children are initially nonplussed, but gradually Sergio’s infectious enthusiasm and unorthodox methods start to spark imaginations and unlock potential.
It’s a premise that could neatly slot into any number of “inspirational teacher” movies, from the Hilary Swank-starring Freedom Writers to the OG of the genre, To Sir, With Love. But this Spanish-language crowdpleaser, which is based on a true story, manages to breathe fresh life into this most hackneyed of genres, even as it embraces some of its hoariest of cliches: Carl Orff’s Gassenhauer, the go-to musical accompaniment for joyous, transformative moments of enlightenment, features on the soundtrack. But somehow, it works.
In large part this is thanks to the performances. Derbez is very likable, if a little too prone to moments of moist-eyed pathos, but the young actors are phenomenal – in particular Jennifer Trejo as Paloma, the litter-picker with a genius IQ, and Danilo Guardiola as Nico, the class clown in the clutches of the cartel.
