This movie is a modernised interpretation of the literature classic novel of the same name by Ödön von Horváth, published in 1937. While the original was born out of the experience by Horváth with the rise of Nazi fascism in Germany leading to WW2, this movie tries to transpose it to modern times. Unfortunately, they leave out completely the “God” part, originally told through discussions between the teacher and a priest, as well as the explanation of the fascism part, originally mostly told trough the discussions with the teacher and a guy called Julius Cesar. Together with other parts of the story they cut out, the movie does not really make too much sense, even though the elements kept for the movie are mostly I line with those parts in the novel. As standalone though, they do not really work and do not convey the strong message of the novel. My tip: Read the novel before watching the movie (only about 170 pages). Then it’s Ok and you get at least the general idea of it. (PS: I watched it in German, so I do not know how good (or bad) the dubbing is.)

What's the point of being in a dystopia if the movie simply follows the story of a teenager with a serious anger management problem and ends up as a boring thriller?

Three words: Read the book.