Beyond the Dream (2022) Film Review
Days ago, I was walking my dog and asked myself “what inspired me”. Lots of things do, but that very specific day I had been gut punched by terrible news, so an answer didn’t come very easily. In the end, I kept going towards “love” as a result. Things done with love inspire me. From a piece of music, to a random act by a living being.
Not to be unnecessarily existential but that same day I watched Chris Hannah’s Beyond the Dream, and it became clear I was on the right path when asking myself a different difficult question. The documentary isn’t very revealing. Many commentaries, statements, and even the general message isn’t innovative. We’ve heard this before. But a different kind of hope lies in the eyes of teenagers whose intentions are as noble as they are innocent. It doesn’t matter what you heard before, they are each as relevant as the inspirational story you’ve read or heard about in the past.
In Beyond the Dream, two high school teachers embark on a journey that’s exciting but not exactly new. They serve as guides in a program oriented towards teenage students who need some help in deciding what they want to do with their lives. The program starts in an intimate setting and ends up on an Ivy League tour that will open their eyes towards an opportunity to be college students and accomplishing a dream.
But what exactly is their dream? Hannah doesn’t waste time with this. It’s quite clear they are part of a population that’s ridden with immigration and labor issues, discrimination, and lack of opportunities. They live in El Paso, Texas, and they are mostly part of the Latino community. Through their words (lots of testimonials by the students themselves), we understand where they come from.
Which isn’t automatically translated into tradition. Neither into a misconception considering their roots. They are Americans and they deserve the same opportunities. Their guides make sure they know this. However, their resources lie in themselves and their personal view when discovering there’s a huge world out there beyond what they’re used to seeing, hearing and being told.
Beyond the Dream is a lovely depiction of something very real and mostly unheard of. Sure, inspirational stories like these are common but they don’t necessarily have happy endings. There’s a current reality to be considered and it isn’t exactly as inspirational from a social perspective. In this documentary, dreams come true, and have the potential of being spread as inspiration for future generations. Superheroes can save the world from mega villains, but two high school teachers have the strength to change it by being beautiful human beings.
