Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A look at the events leading up to the Taliban's attack on the young Pakistani school girl, Malala Yousafzai, for speaking out on girls' education and the aftermath, including her speech to the United Nations.
He Named Me Malala is a competent and moving documentary about an extraordinary subject. The film benefits enormously from Malala herself, whose story is genuinely remarkable and emotionally resonant. However, director Davis Guggenheim employs a fairly conventional documentary approach — talking heads, archival footage, animated sequences illustrating her childhood — that feels workmanlike rather than visionary. The cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable for a documentary of this budget. The narrative structure is solid but lacks the probing depth that might have elevated it beyond an inspirational profile piece. Malala's own presence and advocacy give it warmth and authenticity, but the film doesn't push hard enough journalistically or cinematically to be truly exceptional in any single dimension. The ending, while uplifting, follows the expected arc of triumph-over-adversity without surprising the viewer. A decent, well-intentioned documentary about one of the most important figures of her generation, held back by its conventional execution.