Sundance 2025 Review: Speak. – “Full of optimism and hope.”

A still from Speak. by Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

Each year, a group of exceptional teenagers come together to compete in a national competition for public speaking, Original Oratory.  Some previous competitors have names you might be familiar with, like Oprah, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Paul Rudd, and Josh Gad (who is a producer on this film).  Directors Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman are about to introduce you to five more speakers in their documentary Speak.

We meet our contestants nine months before the national competition is to take place.  They represent a diverse cross-section of America.  There is Esther from Florida, daughter of Nigerian immigrants, her father a pastor, already a two-time champion.  She sees her greatest competition in Mfaz, a Muslim teen with millions of TikTok followers who watch her post videos about her high school life.  Noor from Texas shows pigs but also helps to take care of her brother, who is disabled.  Sam is a queer teen from Minnesota who finds himself competing against the best of the best, surprising even himself.  And there is Noah, who has autism, and is also grieving the recent loss of his mother.

Even though every one of these kids comes from different backgrounds and has a distinct speaking style, and despite their differing levels of experience, there is one thing they share in common.  Each of them is extremely passionate delivering their speech.  One of the teachers that coaches says in the film that speech and debate allow students to seek and see the truth since in their classrooms they are encouraged to remain apolitical.  Their words can allow them to say things they may not be able to say yet in their relationships or in school.  For each of the competitors, the conviction of their words is palpable.

As the months go on, this impressive group of young people travel to regional competitions, qualifiers and then the national stage.  Esther is treated as a local celebrity at these competitions, other students coming to talk to her to see where she might be going to school (Emory, for the record) or to tell her how inspiring she has been to them.  There seems to be a real community amongst these teens, something I wish Speak. had spent more time with, for in focusing their aim on these individual stories we don’t get to see many interactions with those outside that group.

This film is fairly conventional in its construction, but it naturally follows the course of the competitive year.  It has some twists and turns, and it builds relationships with each of its subjects that invests the audience, making Speak. an easily watchable crowdpleaser.  However, some of its more interesting moments aren’t developed.  For instance, early in the fil,m we see Esther with her coach being instructed on when to take a ‘beat’, how her inflection should be used.  Seeing more of these coaching moments would have allowed us to see more of the process instead of just the final product.  I would have loved to have seen the evolution of their words from the beginning of the year to the end.  What did they change? Why? How are they judged at a competition?

Speak. is definitely more a study of the students than the oration competition itself, as I had more questions than answers about that in the end.  But, it is fascinating to watch these young adults talk with such resolve, to see the power they feel in their words.  They aren’t just talking.  They are speaking. There must be something going right for these kids to exist –  capable, articulate, wonderful young humans who, it is clear, will continue to advocate for their beliefs.  In that way, Speak. is full of optimism and hope.  Knowing that the future will be in their hands offers, in a way, some comfort.  And we can all use some of that right about now.

Speak. premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.  For more information, you can go to the Sundance website