Politics is never an easy conversation to have, and it’s even a more difficult topic to bring up in film as people try to attend fictionalized narrative stories to escape the reality of every day. That is not to say that movies cannot have a message. In fact, the good ones do. It’s just that sometimes we don’t want it to be so in our faces. However, director Todd Wiseman Jr. (The Exit Room) decides to take on the current political landscape alongside school shootings and school violence (something that has been a problem across multiple administrations and parties in office) and make something poignant and terrifying with his slightly off-kilter futuristic tale The School Duel. He uses the state of Florida (because of course) and how they combat school shootings. While the film may be a difficult watch, the terrifying reality is that this may not be something we see as fictional in coming years but something that may actually come to fruition in a purge-like society.
Kue Lawrence as Sam Miller in THE SCHOOL DUEL. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
The School Duel takes place in the newly independent state of Florida (which seems to be a popular state for chaos to reign — see also Alex Garland’s Civil War (2024)) where military rule has been decreed and a Hunger Games-esque hierarchy has been declared. The movie focuses on Sam Miller (Kue Lawrence), a 13-year-old child who’s consistently getting picked on and bullied. He tries to be like what every other 13-year-old is like, at least to the general understanding of society, but the newly independent state of Florida just pumps violence and chaos into the media to propagate its own agenda and theories. His mother, Beth (Christina Brucato), tries to ensure that Sam stays safe, but he is tired of being picked on and enlists in the School Duel, a state-wide game sponsored by the government to try and curb school shootings. It’s Martyrs versus Kings, and only the final one standing lives. It’s Death Race (2008), The Hunger Games (2012), Battle Royale (2000), and everything else you can possibly conceive, thrown into one.
Kue Lawrence as Sam Miller in THE SCHOOL DUEL. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
While this clearly isn’t reality as Florida is not an independent state nor is children shooting each other and hunting one another a government sanctioned activity, the reality is with the increase in school shootings and practically nothing being done from a government standpoint (not trying to debate gun laws here, but really when is enough enough?) how far-fetched is this from an inevitable reality? The School Duel wants to paint a crude, disturbing, chaotic future that we find ourselves potentially heading towards, and with its stark monochrome cinematography done by Kyle Deitz (The Water Walker), this dark harsh reality feels more present than ever and that is what makes Wiseman’s feature that much more disturbing. This isn’t a future we cannot predict or cannot foresee. This isn’t the world where Battle Royale and The Hunger Games existed, removed far enough from reality to keep us from fearing it being possible. The School Duel feels like it could be real, and that is why it is so effective, terrifying, and engaging.
Oscar Nuñez as Governor Anthony Ramiro in THE SCHOOL DUEL. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
Thankfully though, Wiseman, aside from having a smart, sick, sense of reality and perception with his way of the pen and an eye behind the director’s chair, and his choice of using Deitz’s brilliant cinematography to encapsulate his vision, the brilliance continues into the cast and the incomparable Kue Lawrence (Sketch), who really is the beating heart in this feature. While far from his first time acting with some genuinely great credits under his belt already, he manages to channel the fear and anxiety of not only being a 13-year-old boy living in America in 2025, but that of being bullied, trying to stand up for himself, trying to fight back, and making a choice that is certainly just that — a choice. The School Duel poses the difficult questions as to how society copes when school shootings truly do just become so out of control and overbearing, with a dark and twisted take on a possible future. It’s a coming-of-age story unlike most coming-of-age stories, and if it gives you the itch to watch something in the same realm of Wiseman’s vision here and to further explore the school shooting epidemic and bullying, Matt Johnson’s The Dirties (2013) is a perfect companion piece which also feels like a heavy inspiration for the more political The School Duel.
Kue Lawrence as Sam Miller in THE SCHOOL DUEL. Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.
The School Duel is truly a horrifying look at a future that we have thankfully not yet reached, and hopefully never do. It is clearly political without ever really taking a side but makes its sides and stances clearly known, wanting to show how dangerous the current climate is, and demanding change to an epidemic that should’ve been addressed, handled, and dealt with years ago. It never shies away from the hard conversations, features a fantastic lead performance from Kue Lawrence supported by the marvelous and, at times, haunting performances from Christina Brucato (The Menu), Oscar Nuñez (The Lost City), and Michael Sean Tighe (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl). The School Duel will create a tense atmosphere while watching it that one simply won’t be able to shake and it will sit and linger with you long after the credits roll.
Screening during Fantasia International Film Festival 2025.
In theaters and on VOD April 24th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Fantasia International Film Festival The School Duel webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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