A ‘devastating and powerful’ bullying film with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score is now available to stream in the UK.
Playground is a Belgian drama film directed by Laura Wandel.
The movie was released in 2021 and follows the story of a brother and sister try and fight off bullies while at school.
It stars Maya Vanderbeque, Günter Duret, Karim Leklou, Laura Verlinden, Lena Girard Voss and Thao Maerten.
The film has won a number of awards including Best Film at the Belgian Film Critics Association, the Sutherland Trophy at the BFI London Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Many will be happy to know that fans will be able to stream the 1 hour 12 minute blockbuster on Amazon Prime Video.
A ‘devastating and powerful’ bullying film with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score is now available to stream in the UK
Playground (pictured) is a Belgian drama film directed by Laura Wandel
The streaming service’s official synopsis states: ‘It’s Nora’s first day at school.
‘Concerned at her older brother being bullied, she unintentionally sets in motion events beyond her control.’
Fans have fallen in love with the film and it’s managed to bag itself 100% on review site Rotten Tomatoes.
It also received 81% on the Popcorn Meter.
Many have shared their rave reviews on the website.
Film Forward’s Kent Turner said: ‘This may be the most stress-inducing, heartbreaking movie of 2022, and it’s only 72-minutes long.’
Flick Feast’s Dallas King wrote: ‘This is a film that, similar to Eighth Grade, should become required viewing in schools. Providing many teachable lessons for pupils and staff alike.’
Financial Times’ Danny Leigh added: ‘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.’
Many have rushed online to share their rave reviews about the blockbuster
Sunday Times’ Tom Shone said: ‘A beautiful film.’
Irish Independent’s Paul Whitngton: ‘Acted with incredible naturalism by its young actors, Wandel’s film is shot from the perspective of a young child, making even the best intentioned adults seem irrelevant to the primordial struggle being enacted at the lunchtime break.’
View of the Arts’ Alistair Ryder said: ‘It’s one of the year’s boldest and best directorial debuts, in addition to being one of the most incisive films about how children experience bullying yet made.’
Meanwhile on IMDB, one said: ‘This is really a very remarkable film. Exploring the group dynamics of school children, director Laura Wandel has taken the radical choice of positioning her camera at children’s height, registering only what children see. Adults are reduced to supporting roles, and they are only visible when they occupy themselves directly with Nora, the heroine of Un Monde, played amazingly by 9 year old Maya Vanderbeque.’
‘This movie is everything it have to be. The camerawork is really brilliant , the hand held camera gives uncomfortable feel throughout the movie. The performances by siblings is just brilliant throughout the movie they carry the burden of movie.
‘The story is really very simple but detailed. Every moment seem to be important and not a repetition. And thus movie is very quick but slow it gives time to viewers to get to understand what’s going on. To quickly summarise this movie is a must watch, thought provoking and not easy to forget.’
‘Bullying has become a big subject in the last 20 years, but this film tells a great story from the perspective of two children who are each victims of it. With the Dardenne brothers and others, the Belgians have redefined the social landscape of Italian neorealism.’
‘I’ve never seen anything quite like this film before.’
A war film based on a true story hailed as ‘an absolute masterpiece’ is available to stream for free.
Das Boot first hit screens back in 1981 and has previously been regarded as one of the greatest war films ever made.
The film is an adaptation of Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s partly-autobiographical novel about his experience working on U-boat submarines as a war correspondent.
This film has also received raving reviews over the years and has a near-perfect 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
