Something goes wrong in a student’s high-stakes history oral exam which sparks a national scandal in this measured Hungarian drama that sees the fateful collision of the personal and the political.

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A film that has somewhat gone under the radar despite winning Best Film under the Orrizonti category of the Venice Film Festival, Explanation for Everything is a multi-character narrative that sees the fateful collision of the personal and the political. 

The little stories that make up the larger narrative are told from character to character, connected directly or indirectly by a central incident—a high-stakes history oral exam that goes ‘wrong’ for one student and which sparks a national scandal. 

Modern societies are increasingly divided over those in favour of nationalism and those who champion liberalism.  It is not easy to tackle the splintering of political beliefs head-on without being summarily accused of being sympathetic towards whichever cause. 

With Explanation for Everything, Hungarian writer-director Gabor Reisz finds a more ‘cushioned’ way to make salient points about the polarising state of his country today, through the aforesaid student, a related teacher who is implicated, and an opportunistic journalist who lands on the juicy material. 

“Would you mind explaining what happened during your history exam?”

At 150-odd minutes, the film is fairly long, perhaps a tad too lengthy, though it remains engaging for the sheer fact that Reisz takes his characterisations seriously.  While the characters have to contend with the main issue at hand, they don’t exist in isolation. 

For instance, we get acquainted with folks who operate within the personal spaces of these characters, be it a father here, a girlfriend there, or a colleague somewhere else.  They act as either pillars or disruptors, and they richly provide the milieus in which the drama plays out, in homes or at schools. 

The subject of history is mentioned many times in Explanation for Everything.  While one might emphasise the propensity of history to be able to ‘explain everything’ that is happening today and hence functioning naturally as a convenient weapon of choice for whichever political side to wield, Reisz makes it abundantly clear that the emotional and psychological burden of doing so lies not in those who have experienced history but in a new generation of history-makers.  

Grade: B+

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Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsxsjd47AEE