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My Old School Reviews

All Critics Top Critics All Audience Verified Audience
Serena Seghedoni Loud and Clear Reviews Jul 20, 2023 3.5/5
It’s in its thoughtful analysis of humanity’s hopes and fears that McLeod‘s documentary excels, using its “unimaginable” story to tackle universal struggles and anxieties.
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Paul Byrnes Sydney Morning Herald Jan 20, 2023 4/5
The film achieves a Rashomon-like complexity of viewpoint, although it’s a lot funnier than Kurosawa’s classic film. It’s partly the Scottish sense of humour, so rich in its understanding of human frailty.
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Graeme Tuckett The Post NZ Jan 19, 2023 4/5
McLeod reveals some astonishing discrepancies between how the former classmates collectively remember events -- and what actually happened.
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Stephen A. Russell ABC News (Australia) Jan 19, 2023
Go in knowing as little as possible... absolutely trippy... go see!
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Andrew F. Peirce The Curb Jan 12, 2023
At 104 minutes long, My Old School is a fluffy and frictionless film that lacks any real heft to make it a substantially entertaining and engaging endeavour.
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Nadine Whitney FILMINK (Australia) Jan 6, 2023 15/20
… certainly interesting, and Cumming does a wonderful job …
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Alison Rowat The Herald (Scotland) Dec 20, 2022
Lee was interviewed but refused to be filmed for the documentary. Instead, in what turns out to be a blessing, Alan Cumming lip syncs his words as only Cumming can.
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Michael J. Casey Boulder Weekly Nov 30, 2022 4/5
Some things you gotta see to believe—especially when they’re true. 
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Cate Young Thirty, Flirty + Film Nov 19, 2022
"The real hook here is the collective memory of this unique class of schoolmates, and how the experience shaped their lives. It’s kooky, funny, and endlessly enjoyable."
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Dallas King Outtake Mag Nov 13, 2022 5/5
This documentary will have you shocked, stunned and sniggering like you used to at the back of the classroom. My Old School gets top marks. A class act.
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Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Nov 1, 2022 2/5
…My Old School aims to elicit a warm glow of nostalgia for schooldays, but the mean-spirited untruths featured here credit Brian McKinnon at the expense of his teachers and classmates…
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Carla Hay Culture Mix Sep 25, 2022
With whimsical animation and compelling interviews, the documentary My Old School tells the strange-but-true story of an unusual student who enrolled in Scotland's Bearsden Academy in 1993. It's a bittersweet tale of deception, denial, and broken dreams.
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Chris Wasser Sunday Independent (Ireland) Aug 25, 2022 4/5
A series of playful animated reconstructions are employed throughout, and the great Alan Cumming delivers a tricky yet effective lip-synch over audio recordings with the real-life swindler. In a word? Unmissable.
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Tom Shone Sunday Times (UK) Aug 22, 2022 3/5
Asked to reconcile this with his fraud, he [Brian MacKinnon] responds: "All I can say is, what is a person?" It's the question beating at the heart of this light-hearted but engrossing film.
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Wendy Ide Observer (UK) Aug 21, 2022 4/5
It’s a fascinating story that starts as an affable, strange-but-true tall tale but ends in a decidedly minor key.
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Andy Lea Daily Express (UK) Aug 20, 2022 5/5
[An] engrossing, thoughtful, touching and frequently funny documentary...
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Cory Woodroof Nashville Scene Aug 20, 2022
The documentary always finds the most riveting points in the story to fixate on, allowing us to see through Brian/Brandon’s eyes and through the eyes of those who were fooled. Everyone gets their day in court.
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Paul Whitington Irish Independent Aug 19, 2022 4/5
Using animations to bring to life 1990s classroom life, My Old School paints a vivid picture of a remarkable story.
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Kevin Maher The Times (UK) Aug 19, 2022 4/5
A labyrinthine network of self-deception, snobbery and megalomania as MacKinnon’s antiseptic arrogance creeps through...
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Ryan Syrek The Reader (Omaha, NE) Aug 19, 2022 C+
Some stories are best savored, gently rolled in the mouth like hard (brain) candy, until the last bits of flavor become taste ghosts. Others are just really baller Wikipedia entries. “My Old School” is more of the latter than the former.
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