Courtesy of HBO Max

It’s widely accepted that learning institutions have a legal and moral obligation to keep students out of harm’s way at all costs. The HBO Max docu-series Quiet in Class profiles a shocking case where the administration at a school in Karlstad, Sweden seemingly went out of their way to do the exact opposite.

The show chronicles the crimes of an unnamed predator who was allowed to prey on the student body at the Internationella Engelska Skolan (the International English School) unchecked from 2015 through 2023. Despite numerous reports from students and parents, the administration appeared to turn a blind eye, seemingly allowing the perpetrator, who worked as a recreation director at the institution, to act with impunity, voyeuristically filming and photographing unsuspecting young girls for the better part of a decade. 

Despite years of credible allegations from multiple sources, the school justified, rationalized, and even made excuses for the recreation director’s alarming behavior. Several who reported uncomfortable and sexually charged interactions with him say that the school’s administration laughed in their face before sweeping allegations under the rug. 

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With a track record like that, it comes as no surprise that the school’s administration team ultimately declined to sit for a proper interview with the filmmakers behind the series. Even without a formal rebuttal, it becomes easy enough to draw your own conclusions regarding culpability. Although numerous survivors came forward with reports, the school has yet to produce any documented evidence that it took action. In fact, after a parent finally went to the police, the school reportedly placed the recreation director with even younger children and gave him a pay raise.

Though we never learn the name of the accused party at the core of this dark docu-series, we discover that this bad actor targeted as many as 160 students, distributing content all across the internet. Even more sickeningly, the man responsible also filmed “tribute videos” where he taped himself explicitly interacting with the images he captured, leaving biological material on the photographs as a “tribute” to his victims. 

The filmmakers do a commendable job of illustrating the turmoil that resulted from repeated inactivity. The collective whole is ultimately a mixed bag, though. The reporting in this true crime documentary eventually veers into sensationalism, which undoubtedly takes something away from the presentation.  

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Things take a turn when an anonymous tipster enters the equation. The whistleblower, who happened upon the recreation director’s videos online, initially seems like a standup guy. He first tips off the media. When that proves a dead end, he does some sleuthing and tracks the perpetrator down to demand that he take down the pictures and videos. I was tracking up to that point, but from there, the whistleblower reveals himself as a fellow pedophile who seems to get a rush from controlling the perpetrator and ultimately asks him for more content so he can make tribute videos of his own. 

I kept expecting that element to prove an integral part of the case, but it ultimately appears only tangentially related. After profiling the would-be whistleblower’s predatory impulses and twisted ongoing relationship with the recreation director, the intertwined stories fail to properly connect in the end. I kept waiting to learn that the whistleblower ultimately had a hand in bringing down the recreation director or played an otherwise crucial role in the case. That never happens, though. In fact, we leave off following the whistleblower’s arrest, with no reporting on whether or not he was convicted and no details on his role in the recreation director’s trial. That begs the question: Why did the filmmakers devote so much time to this tertiary element?

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The more sensational aspects sit in stark contrast to the rest of the series, which is largely survivor-focused and respectful. It’s almost as if the reporting is at war with itself, trying to exist at two very different extremes. On one hand, Quiet in Class chronicles the harmful effects and ultimate aftermath of inaction. On the other hand, we’ve got a minor player who is seemingly shoehorned into the proceedings for dramatic effect. The reporting would be far more effective if it either reduced the role of the whistleblower or justified his inclusion by demonstrating a greater impact on the outcome of the case. 

Despite getting derailed by sensationalism, Quiet in Class still has some merit. The series gives a voice to the survivors and serves as an evergreen reminder to speak up as loudly as possible when you see something inappropriate. As the program illustrates, even in a more informed time with more checks and balances in place, there are still people in positions of power protecting bad actors. All three episodes of the program are available to stream now on HBO Max. 

Summary

‘Quiet in Class’ ultimately fails by losing sight of the bigger picture.

Categorized: Reviews