Afterschool October 27, 2008

Robert (Ezra Miller) is a sensitive young kid finding it difficult to fit in at the elite East Coast preparatory school he attends. He attends sessions with the school counselor, takes his medication and spends a lot of his spare time in front of a computer screen, glued to the images of sex and violence he can access. Robert's roommate Dave (Jeremy Allen White) is dealing drugs, yet is the closest thing to a friend he has, at least until he plucks up the nerve to get closer to open, attractive Amy (Addison Timlin). Paired to make a video project together, Robert and Amy traipse the school corridors gathering footage, until a tragedy occurs that affects the whole of the school, and has consequences for Robert in particular.

Filmmaker Antonio Campos has a number of accomplished shorts to his name, but Afterschool is still something of a revelation. It's an uncompromising film, both in terms of its style (the film is measured out in striking, patient, long takes, along with images presented from computer screens or through the lens of the digital camera the kids use), and content (this is a film that goes to some dark places, and the violence is graphically presented). It's also pertinent and engaged, a film set in American school system that brims with vitality and originality, and one that marks Campos out as a talent to watch.

Official Website: http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/afterschool