I recently watched a great movie called Slumdog Millionaire. It is about a boy, Jamal Malik, who grows up in the slums and ends up on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. But this is not your typical rags-to-riches movie. He is not there for the money, and he isn’t a genius. Why he is on the show and how he knows the answers to the questions are what make this story interesting. I’m not going to spoil it for you — you should check it out!

What I liked most about Slumdog Millionaire was the storytelling. Jamal is being interrogated by security at the beginning of the movie, and he explains how he knows the answers to the questions through cut scenes of his childhood. I’ve always liked this sort of structure – many short stories within a larger, basic story. The movie is 2 hours long, but this structure gives it a more epic feel.

Another thing that I liked about Slumdog Millionaire was its depiction of change — and I’m not talking about Jamal. He remains fairly constant throughout the movie; the people around him and the city of Mumbai are the ones that change.