Two things struck me immediately about Belgian writer-director Laura Wandel's powerful 2021 film. On a (slightly) negative note, I think whoever it was who came up with the English translation of the Belgian-French title ('Un monde') of the film really missed a trick - 'The Playground' might be 'literally' correct (in terms of the film's recurring setting) but 'the world' would be a much more accurate description of the (scale of the) impact Wandel's circumstances are having on Maya Vanderbeque's school newbie, Nora. On a more positive note, Wandel's visual focus here (courtesy of Frédéric Noirhomme's camera), namely a seemingly continuous close-up on Nora's face regardless of where 'the action' is is a quite brilliant (if not entirely original) construct, giving us an uncompromisingly intimate (and devastatingly moving) take on her world view. Of course, the other big positive here are the performances of Vanderbeque and Gunter Duret as Nora's brother, Abel - both inexperienced newbies delivering quite amazing turns.
As we see Nora struggling to come to terms with her new life - being isolated, made fun of and causing Abel grief as his younger sister - the other slight (maybe superficial) negative here is the 'one-track' nature of Wandel's focus (even if this is rarely less than compelling). Looking more closely, however, and we see other (aside from Nora's dilemma) wider issues at play - single parenting (and fathers taking responsibility), the difficulty for teachers in dealing with bullying, the likely impact that bullying has on academic progress and, perhaps most significantly, the issue of whether to 'turn a blind eye' when witnessing an obvious injustice in society ('grassing', if you like). Certainly, as a portrait of Wandel's 'central subject' (school bullying) it is difficult to imagine a more convincing portrayal.
In terms of comparator films, being Belgian(!) the Dardennes brothers spring most readily to mind, particularly (in terms of 'childhood portraits') Rosetta and The Son, whilst Ken Loach's masterpiece Kes also considers similar issues. Regardless, Wandel's debut film has much to commend it.
