No. 025 - 'The School Duel' by Todd Wiseman Jr. (2024)

Watched by Matthew Donlan at the Ritz

In the 1700s, author and clergyman, Jonathan Swift, wrote extensively about the ill-treatment of the Irish poor by the British government. He described how, travelling through Ireland, the streets would be lined with mothers and their children, begging for food. It was a 'melancholy' and 'deplorable state'. In his essay, A Modest Proposal, he identified a solution - Irish parents should sell their children as food to the wealthy. He went on to recommended prices (ten shillings for a 'good fat child'), portions, seasoning (salt and pepper) and ripeness (March is best).

"I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife"

A Modest Proposal is an extended satire, finding humour in the sheer seriousness with which Swift treats his idea. He doubles-down on the proposal with a cold absurdity to ridicule the inhumane indifference shown by the English elite towards the Irish poor.

In the present day, film-maker Todd Wiseman Jr. concocts a scenario in which children are sent into a deadly battle in a shallow effort to prevent school shootings. In the Free State of Florida, gun control has been outlawed leading to a dramatic rise in school shootings. In the classroom, Catholic ideals are embedded in the public-school curriculum and corporal punishment has been re-instated. The School Duel, a government initiative, seeks to stem the rise in school shootings by providing an outlet for would-be (male) shooters to compete to the death each year, until a king is determined.

The School Duel, the debut feature from Wiseman Jr., tackles America's obsessive gun culture head on with an aggressive intensity. Thirteen-year-old Sammy (newcomer Kue Lawrence) is stuck in his identity. Small in stature, he is an easy target for school bullies. At home he lashes out to his mother and imitates the violent men he sees on his phone. Sammy lacks a paternal figure at this important turning point of his life after the death of his father (and former soldier) so, at the encouragement of a scout for the duel, he enlists behind his mother's back.

Wiseman Jr. effectively builds a world that balances the antiquated with the dystopian. Traditional values are seen in the women's dresses and boy's uniforms, the Catholicism in a previously secular education system and the toxic masculine pursuit of manhood. However, all this takes place in the near-future with slim, sleek technology. It is the return to tradition already being instigated by conservatives taken a few steps further ahead. It is the natural next stop of a regressing society where white men cling to power through violent and sadistic means.

This blend of past and future is aided by the monochromatic cinematography. Removing colour not only adds a coldness to the killing of children but places the issue in black and white terms. It is objectively evil and cannot be justified. The governor signing death warrants before the duel as a bureaucratic precaution, the protection of 'god-given' rights, the theory it lowers the risk of further school shootings - they're all smoke and mirrors to divert attention from the callousness the government has not only allowed but encouraged.

I won't spoil it here but the ending (which has divided audiences) is required. In those final minutes, Wiseman Jr. takes this dystopia to its logical and only end. It's the end that those in power want and will achieve if no one speaks up. It distills the reason why this film is needed - to be a wake up call for all.

The School Duel was the closing night film of the Dark Nights Film Festival.

Fleapit Pick of the Week

To get into the spooky mood, catch a screening (or even get involved in some audience participation) of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. This year marks it's 50th anniversary so head on down for some fun!

Screenings: Thursday 16 OCTOBER - Wednesday 22 OCTOBER

NEW RELEASES:
After The Hunt (Luca Guadagnino, 2025)

Ballad of a Small Player (Edward Berger, 2025)

The Black Phone 2 (Scott Derrickson, 2025)

Roofman (Derek Cianfrance, 2025)

SXSW Sydney
Once Upon a Time in Gaza (Tarzan & Arab Nasser, 2025)
Thursday

BMX Bandits - Live Script Read
Friday

Peter Hujar's Day (Ira Sachs, 2025)
Saturday

Inner West Libraries Film Club
The Real Taylor Swift: Wild Dreams (Jordan Hill, 2021)
Thursday

Pink Flamingo Cinema
The Wolf House (Cristóbal León, Joaquin Cociña, 2018)
Wednesday

Greek Film Festival | selected highlights
Kapetan Mihalis (Kostas Haralambous, 2023)
Thursday and Sunday

A Touch of Spice (Tassos Boulmetis, 2003)
Friday

Stelios (Yorgos Tsemberopoulos, 2024)
Saturday & Tuesday

State Library NSW
Griffin Dunne: Coming of Age in Hollywood
Sydney Writer's Festival
Tuesday

Hayden Orpheum | selected highlights
The Travellers (Bruce Beresford, 2025)
Daily

Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
Plus Ghibli Classics Performance
Sunday

Waterworld (Kevin Reynolds, 1995)
30th Anniversary
Sunday

Deeper (Jennifer Peedom, 2025)
Q+A w/ Richard Harris and Jennifer Peedom
Monday

Springsteen - Deliver Me from Nowhere (Scott Cooper, 2025)
Preview Event
Wednesday

Golden Age Cinema | selected highlights
Grey Gardens (Albert Maysles, David Maysles, 1976)
Thursday

Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
Saturday

Shadow of the Vampire (E. Elias Merhige, 2000)
Monday

Ritz Cinemas, Randwick | selected highlights
The Travellers (Bruce Beresford, 2025)
Daily

Kangaroo (Kate Woods, 2025)
Daily

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975)
50th Anniversary Audience Participation Screening
Friday

Jim Jarmusch Less Is More (link)
Mystery Train (1989)
Thursday

Cult Classics (link)
There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
Saturday & Monday

Celluloid Film (link)
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Friday

Classic Matinees (link)
To Be Or Not To Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942)
Saturday & Monday

Make It Musical (link)
Jazz on a Summer's Day (Bert Stern, 1959)
Sunday & Wednesday

Meet Cute (link)
Something Wild (Jonathan Demme, 1986)
Tuesday

Dendy Newtown | selected highlights
The Travellers (Bruce Beresford, 2025)
Daily

Universal Classic Monsters (link)
The Wolf Man (George Waggner, 1941)
Friday

Cineversaries (link)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975)
Daily

Palace Cinemas | selected highlights
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975)
50th Anniversary
Friday

The Travellers (Bruce Beresford, 2025)
Daily

Kangaroo (Kate Woods, 2025)
Saturday & Sunday

Cult Vault (link)
The Exorcist III (William Peter Blatty, 1990)
Monday

Matinee Memories (link)
House of Wax (Andre De Toth, 1953)
Saturday

Art Gallery of NSW
Film series: Focus on queer 中文 cinema
The River (Tsai Ming-liang, 1997)
Saturday

Film series: Brazil! Brazil!A century of cinema
Pixote (Héctor Babenco, 1980)
Sunday

Carmen Miranda: Bananas is my business (Helena Solberg, 1995)
Wednesday