An Asian student April Chen (Celine Tsai) comes before a college tribunal charged with plagiarism on a History essay by Keith Ward (Jonathan Keltz) a teaching assistant in charge of her class. The tribunal is made up of a college professor, a student and an Academic Integrity Officer.
What was to be just a quick hearing on the matter of plagiarism however, it turns into an unexpected trial. The storyline gets very heavy with Keith and April calling witnesses and injecting a lot of heated cross examination. As the “trial” progresses we start to get the idea that Keith has a vendetta against his student and that right or wrong April just wants her name cleared so she is able to graduate. And as a side note; there is also the loss of face for April is she loses that will cause a lot of embarrassment from her visiting homeland Asian family.
What the film brings forward is not so much racial disparity as it does bigotry and false accusations. Being a dark comedy however, the film adds twists to the storyline often changing the reasons and direction it’s taking for or against both Keith and April. Stealing School begs to ask “what could you do if there are mitigating circumstances that both parties are unaware, and therefore making the Tribunal a way to devious means?”
I actually liked the film for its acting, the flow of the story, the misdirection by the characters and the twisted ending. Stealing School is Not Rated by the MPAA, but contains language, some sexual inferences and smoking. The film opens on Digital Platforms on February 26, 2021. My rating for the film is 3 out of 5 Stars.
