Mister Twister: Class of Fun

Barbara Bredero's 2012 Dutch film is a school comedy drawing on a popular strand of children's books. Casey, a student teacher, gets his first placement in class 5b; he does not yet know how to teach, but the children are more than willing to help him. The template is inverted: the teacher learns and the pupils run things. Dutch children's cinema of this period works from an approach that neither diminishes children nor presents adults as faultless, and this film is a typical example. The humour is physical and quick, and the young cast is natural. Its limit is low conflict and a loose episodic structure; it feels less like a feature than a long television episode. Who it's for: families who like European children's films and school comedy. Who it's not for: anyone looking for a layer aimed at adult viewers, or expecting dramatic tension.