Review: I Am Greta

I wouldn't call myself a dedicated follower of Greta Thunberg since her activism got noticed by the world's media. But I am certainly aware of her achievements so far and I'm all for what she wants our world leaders to do.

I am aware that Thunberg has her haters, and it honestly doesn't make sense for me. Going against the movement she has created of essentially healing the world's climate is something everyone should be behind or at least accept.

With all that in mind, I was certainly interested in seeing what this film documentary would show.

In terms of the information presented to you, most of it is nothing new for people who are regularly keep up with the latest news. For outsiders, this is a nice crash course into what Greta is all about and what she has managed to accomplish in a short amount of time.

For me, there were some nice moments that no-one would have seen before. It is amazing that we get the very beginnings of Greta's movement. It was all thanks to director Nathan Grossman being tipped off about Greta and that what she's doing could develop into something. Seeing those opening moments was quite captivating and how it quickly blew up into a global news item.

Other moments that were memorable was basically just seeing what Greta is like in between her public appearances. It was interesting to see her relationship with her family, how she is coping with the positive and negative comments on her in the media and the travelling that is required.

In terms of the film-making and production side of it, it was perfectly fine. It pretty much documents Greta's whereabouts. Unlike most film documentaries, there are no face-to-face interviews mixing in with archive footage. So I think the lack of those type of aspects of story-telling within this genre does prevent it from being an exceptional piece of work. But the content and subject matter still makes a perfectly watchable and engaging feature.

It certainly gives you enough to help you know more about Greta as a person and what drives her to keep this movement going. I do feel some added depth and maybe voices from elsewhere could have given the story added meat. But I don't think that was the director's intention. It is somewhat made up for this with the unprecedented footage of basically shadowing Greta everywhere.

I felt this was a solid and entertaining watch with enough inspiring moments that stay with you. Don't expect to learn how to save the planet's climate from watching this. This is more about the person, how they behave, think and react and I found all of that rather gripping.

There is clearly an audience for this as Greta has her fans. The structure and look of the film is functional, safe and rarely adventurous. Some moments and imagery are very powerful that benefit the subject matter and it's a nice piece of history that could be part of a school curriculum depending on how this movement impacts the world in the end.

Rating: 7/10