Every teacher can tell you a story of that one student who was smarter than all the rest. And knew it, too. I'm talking about that one student who eagerly awaits the opportunity to catch the teacher making a mistake and wastes no time in pointing it out. You know the ones. Heck, I was one of them. For many of us teachers, though, we harbour a secret fear of these students. Not because they keep us on our toes by constantly proving us wrong. But rather, we fear that we will be unable to challenge and engage these students, failing to meet their academic needs and condemning them to ten months of boredom. In the movie GIFTED, we come across child prodigy Mary Adler (McKenna Grace), a seven-year-old whose mathematical abilities astonish her first grade teacher. Raised by her uncle Frank (Chris Evans), Mary makes no attempt to hide her boredom and frustration from her teacher Bonnie (Jenny Slate) who quickly realizes her new student will never be academically challenged in a regular school setting.

For the first seven years of Mary's life, Frank, a former university professor, chooses to teach his niece at home, where she develops a strong bond with their landlady Roberta (Octavia Spencer). Knowing his sister would want Mary to lead as "normal" a life as possible, Frank decides it's time to enrol her in grade school where she can be more like her peers and make new friends her own age. When news of her gift reaches her grandmother, a custody battle ensues, threatening to separate Frank and Mary.

While the trailer looked promising, I decided to attend an advanced screening of GIFTED more so out of curiosity. And... Chris Evans. The trailer did little to prepare me, however, for the unexpected emotions I felt as I followed a fictional, yet poignant, story that was so beautifully portrayed on the big screen. 

Signed,
Diana, the Smart Arse