While movies trending on TikTok aren't exactly a new phenomenon, many of them aren't exactly like 1, 2, 3, all eyes on me. 1, 2, 3, all eyes on me is a 15-minute short film directed by Emil Gallardo that follows a teacher named Ms. Leena (Farelle Walker) whose life changes completely when a school shooter storms her elementary school campus. Ms. Leena does everything she can to protect her students from the intruder, while also trying to remain calm and strong for herself.
The short film was released in 2020 and won several awards and prizes at various film festivals such as Austin, Magnolia Independent, New York Latino and Pasadena International. However, 1, 2, 3, all eyes on me seems to have a divided reaction among audiences because, although it has an 8.0/10 rating on IMDB, it has an audience score of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. This may have to do with the short's disturbing subject matter, which is a big reason why it garnered a lot of attention on TikTok and quickly became a popular film on the app.
1, 2, 3, All Eyes On Me was trending on TikTok for being disturbingly realistic
Short Film's Depiction of a School Shooting Is Harrowing
On May 16, 2023, a TikTok user named ukclip4u uploaded a series of clips from 1, 2, 3, all eyes on me which featured some of the short film's most intense and moving moments. These clips immediately trended on TikTok, as many on the site commented on how disturbingly realistic they were. 1, 2, 3, all eyes on me is to portray both a school shooting and the fear one feels when going through such a horrific event. Many commenters on these clips also expressed sadness and frustration because the film reminded them how common school shootings are in the United States.
1, 2, 3 is available to stream at most
Max also has a featurette on the making of All Eyes On Me
Not only is it 1, 2, 3, all eyes on me available to stream on Maxbut the streaming service also offers a featurette about the production of the short film that includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Emil Gallardo. In the featurette, Gallardo states that all of the children who play students in the film participated in active shooter drills at their schools.
Gallardo explains that he did this because he wanted to portray a school shooting as realistically as possible. It's a testament to their skillful direction and the cast's acting skills that they pulled it off so well that the short film became trending on TikTok, but it's also a disturbing commentary on the prevalence of gun violence in schools.
Feature films that are like 1,2,3, All eyes on me
School shootings have inspired several films
1, 2, 3 All eyes on me went viral on TikTok due to its terrifyingly realistic depiction of a school shooting. In terms of the shocking precision in the dramatization of such tragedies, the 2020 short film has yet to be beaten. However, There are many feature-length films that focus on school shootings, especially with the emotional toll they take on survivors.
One of the most prominent is the 2021 drama Precipitation. Directed and written by Megan Park, The consequences stars Jenna Ortega as Vada, a high school student who survives an active shooter incident. The event breaks her psychologically, and her attempts to try and regain a sense of balance and normalcy make for intense, emotional insight. Very similar 1, 2, 3 All eyes on me, The consequences also uses its characters' personal stories to highlight an endemic problem, as the 2021 film ends with an early reminder of just how endemic the problem of gun violence in educational settings really is.
For a more allegorical approach, the 2020 film Spontaneous it also shows the emotional impact that surviving a school shooting can have, but with much less realism. Spontaneous uses a wave of inexplicable human combustion as a metaphor for fatal shootings. Katherine Langford stars as Mara who, like Vada in The consequences and TikTok viewers after 1, 2, 3 All eyes on me, has to navigate the toughest questions to answer after tragedies like school shootings – “why?” This is where the human combustion metaphor works incredibly well for Spontaneous, as the cause of the strange phenomenon that causes the teenagers to explode is never found.
Also of note is the 2002 documentary Bowling for Columbine. This Michael Moore film leaves no stone unturned as the filmmaker tries to uncover the motive behind the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. Even though it's over two decades old, many of the issues addressed in this 2000s documentary are, unfortunately, still incredibly relevant . Although it is not dramatized in the same way as 1, 2, 3 All eyes on me, Bowling for Columbine still does an incredible job of capturing the emotional impact of a school shooting.