Father and child sit together smiling while looking at a smart phone.

Want more recommendations for your family?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration

Parents' Guide to

Mentor

By Renee Longstreet, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Intense docu examines bullying as cause of two teen suicides

Movie NR 2014 80 minutes
Mentor Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

See all
age 14+

Based on 4 parent reviews

mfalcon
mfalcon Adult
December 5, 2020
age 14+

Everyone Should Watch This, but specially white middle class Americans!

This film is horrifying because it's a true story about what happens in parts of America. I went through bullying about my skin color when I was very young . I am a teacher, and I can tell you this would never happen without DIRE consequences in ANY of the schools I taught at because I and all the other teaching staff would have gotten kicked out for raising the hell these horrendous allowed behaviors !!!! Absolutely shameful! How little humans have evolved in all this time!
jennidawn2004
jennidawn2004 Adult
June 22, 2019
age 13+
Excellent information on bullying. I think all parents should see this. Teens should see it as well, to know they are not alone and can reach out to their parents for help. Suicide is not the only answer. Parents just have to be willing to do whatever it takes when no one else will.
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Mentor, Ohio, has been listed on several "100 Best Cities" lists of American cities. But Alix Lambert's furious documentary, MENTOR, shows another side of this idyllic-seeming community. Though it's noted that Mentor High was the school of two earlier suicide victims and one accidental overdose, Lambert focuses on two kids. Eric Mohat was 17, a lovable, eccentric kid: a choir member, a boy who initially wasn't afraid of being different, and a kid with a good family and caring parents. When he shot himself to death, it was just after a bullying classmate told him, "Why don't you go home and shoot yourself. It's not like anyone would care." Eric never told his parents about the bullying, so his death was a surprise. Only a year later, 16-year-old Sladjana Vidovic, a Croatian immigrant, was picked on verbally and physically assaulted at Mentor High because of her "funny name," her accent, and her "difference." Unlike Eric, Sladjana was vocal about her distress. Her parents made unending trips to the school asking for help, and Sladjana spent a part of almost every day in the nurse's office and crying by herself in a bathroom. So it wasn't a surprise when she hung herself in her bedroom. Through interviews with family members, other kids, some experts, a lawyer, and a reporter and excerpts from school records (with names redacted), Lambert portrays Mentor High School personnel as chilling. And her depictions of Eric and Sladjana are devastating. Lambert intercuts her heartbreaking moments with lots of landscapes and cityscapes, constantly reminding the viewer of the "every town" nature of Mentor and how close the city is to all the other suburban "100 Best Cities" in America.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (4 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Alix Lambert does an effective job of showing what happened at Mentor High, who the bullying victims were and are, and how many lives were touched by the tragedies there. For the Mohat and Vicovic families, not only were there no happy endings, but their efforts to bring the tragedy into the light and to hope for better for other kids were stifled in every way. From the bullying girls who came to Sladjana's wake, laughed at the dress she was wearing in her coffin, and posted about its "ugliness" on MySpace; to the school counselor who shredded all her documents related to one student immediately after the death; to the lawyer who fought unsuccessfully to give the two families their day in court, in spite of stunning evidence; and, finally, to the refusal of any school official to be interviewed or even respond, it's all tragic. It's unimaginable that anyone could stay with Mentor through the closing credits without feeling overwhelmingly saddened and frustrated by what he or she has seen. Though Lambert does succeed in finally giving these families their day in the court of public opinion, it's relentlessly bleak. It tells the tale well but offers no positive perspective about how things can be made better; no family members get any relief from what they've suffered, and we don't know if there were any consequences paid or changes made in the school district's methodology.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about bullying as a subject that requires awareness on everyone's part. Have you been a witness to bullying? What steps can you take to help? Why do kids who go along with the bully or laugh at the situation play a part in the victim's distress?

  • The Mentor High School staff and the Mentor school board refused to be interviewed for this film. How did that fact influence your assessment of what you watched and heard? Do you think those people were well served by their decision? Why, or why not?

  • Make it your business to know how your school or community is dealing with bullying. What, if any, programs are in place to protect kids from bullying? How does your local school community handle those who have been identified as bullies?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended movie lists

Related Topics

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate