It’s an unfortunate fact of life that some kids will always get picked on. In recent years and beyond, bullying has led to tragic consequences for youth who just can’t take it anymore. We’ve heard plenty from families of those children and those that have been bullied themselves, but what about the harassers? We rarely hear stories told from their perspectives, until now. HBO is set to release an eye-opening documentary on March 30 titled When We Were Bullies. Airing live on the network from 9:00-9:35 p.m. ET/PT with streaming on HBO Max set to follow, the film seeks to shed light on a bullying incident that happened fifty years ago.

Telling his own experiences as a bully in a Brooklyn schoolyard, Jay Rosenblatt will take viewers along with him as he attempts to uncover a memory long thought lost to the past. The filmmaker will be joined by several peers and even a teacher as he tries to piece together why he and others did what they did. To bring his documentary short to life, Rosenblatt will use a mixture of archival material, found footage, stop-motion animation and the aforementioned interviews.

A trailer released along with the short’s announcement reveals Rosenblatt’s attempt to uncover the darker side of kids and the group mentality that drove them all. Taking audiences back to the place it all happened, Rosenblatt shows viewers the exact spot of the attack. The filmmaker’s guilt and shame are immediately apparent as the trailer plays out, and he isn’t the only one who feels this way. During snippets of interviews with his classmates, a general sense of regret, humiliation, and discomfort is felt by all. The question “Why do you think kids pick on weaker kids?” is heard during the trailer signifying the search to get to the very heart of bullying and why it happens.

When We Were Bullies promises to peel back the layers behind why we as human beings at our youngest and most innocent stages single out peers and push off negative feelings onto them. An official selection for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, this in depth look at some of our most inner demons is going to be a must-watch for anyone with HBO and HBO Max when it hits the network on March 30. Watch the trailer and check out the film’s full synopsis below.

Here’s the short’s synopsis:

WHEN WE WERE BULLIES begins with a mind boggling coincidence from 25 years ago, which ultimately leads filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt to track down his fifth grade class to see what they remember from a bullying incident that occurred 50 years ago. Weaving together a collage of archival material, found footage, stop-motion animation and interviews with classmates and a teacher from the time, the film is a highly personal look back at a Brooklyn schoolyard incident that had been obscured by the elusive nature of memory but had resonated for decades. In a playful yet poignant reflection, Rosenblatt begins to understand his complicity, his sense of shame and the shared nature of such incidents and their aftermath.

via Collider