SLO County student gets published in New York Times — with ‘deep, dark’ movie review

A Morro Bay High School sophomore has already achieved what many writers consider to be a career pinnacle — having his work published by the New York Times.

In 2022, Orion Elfant Rea submitted his entry in the eighth annual Student Review Contest sponsored by The Learning Network. The organization publishes teaching resources including lesson plans, writing prompts and quizzes.

The contest invites teenagers to “play critic and submit original reviews about any kind of creative expression covered in The New York Times,” according to the network’s website.

The 2022 competition received nearly 4,000 submissions from teens around the world, reviewing everything from video games and books to music and manga. Judges selected dozens of finalists, but only nine winners.

One of those winners was Orion, who submitted a review of the 2022 film adaption of the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

“I was looking for writing contests, and my mom suggested this one!” the 15-year-old told The Tribune. “I thought it perfectly suited what I was interested in writing about at that moment.”

Morro Bay student wins with ‘Western Front’ movie review

Orion watched the film twice, first on Netflix and then at the Palm Theater in San Luis Obispo.

“I saw (it) two or three months apart,” he said. “The first time, I was a little bit bored, and thought it was a really intense, brutal movie.”

By his second viewing, “I figured out what the brutality was for and what the director’s intentions were,” Orion said. “I think (filmmaker Edward Berger) was really trying to capture the finality of death and destruction, adding to the original book’s comments on the pointlessness of war.

“It made the movie a little more insightful and made me fall more in love with the movie,” Orion said.

Orion’s 425-word review uses vivid descriptions and blunt phrasing to demonstrate how Berger “does not simply seek to show the horrific nature of combat,” he writes. “Instead, he aims to engross the audience with a distinct air of futility.”

“I thought it would be wrong to portray enthusiasm about a war movie,” Orion said. “Make no mistake, it’s very, very good. But I wanted to ... talk about how dark it was. I didn’t think the movie was perfect, so I wanted to note that.”

There was a side motivation for his approach, he said, because it “would make my entry stand out in the contest.”

Sophomore is a high achiever in sports, debate team and more

Morro Bay High School Principal Scott Schalde had plenty of praise for Orion, who will be starting his junior year in the fall.

“He’s such a wonderful, incredibly thoughtful student on our campus,” Schalde said.

“Orion is a very impressive academic student” who’s active in sports, started a peer-tutoring group and led the school’s debate team to its first win at the San Luis Obispo County level, the principal said. “And he doesn’t even drive yet!

“I’m excited, knowing that Orion is only halfway through his high school career, and thinking of all the things he’ll do for himself, his school and his community in the next two years,” Schalde said.

Speaking about Orion’s film review, Schalde said, “War is such a deep, dark topic, but Orion doesn’t write like a student in high school.”

What’s ahead for winning writer?

Orion credits his parents, psychologists Benjamin Rea and Erin Elfant, for encouraging his passions for analysis and diagnosis.

“I’m not interested in medicine specifically, but in the analysis part, diagnosing a client,” he said. “I’d compare it to diagnosing a movie or a director’s intentions.”

Organizers announced the winners of the Student Review Contest on Feb. 15.

However, Orion did not learn of his success until three months later.

“I Googled my name, and the announcement article came up,” said Orion, who didn’t receive any official notification. “I was very surprised.”

“After the win, I am much more motivated to share any creative musings I might have,” Orion said. “I have a new perspective on the reviews I write and opinions I share” via his high school’s student newspaper, The Spyglass, and on the Letterboxd social media site.

Orion is interested in pursuing a legal career in the future.

“I loved mock trial,” he said. “I’m interested into going into the law. … Continuing to do that kind of litigation would be amazing.”

To see a full list of Student Review Contest winners and read the winning reviews, go to nytimes.com/2023/02/15/learning/the-winners-of-our-eighth-annual-student-review-contest.html.