A, B and C are a girl and two boys from three different countries, whose names are never revealed. Today is their fourteenth birthday and we watch them struggling to get on with their families and with their peers. We witness their coming of age and their judgement of the world through the screen of their phones. The distinction between social media and real life is so subtle that, like them, we are tempted to ignore it and, through the screen of their phones, we filter their malaise and interpret their ordeal. Three very different but somehow analogous stories of trolling, online shaming, exposure to violent and pornographic contents and need for social approval, which converge at breakneck speed toward the same desperate solution. Their stories don't involve any grown-ups. The adults aren't there to help, too busy building their careers, mourning their losses or focusing in their daily routine.
Glenn Waldron's Natives is an insistent reminder of the wall we often raise between us and the younger generations. A barrier that in our grown-up minds separates our important issues from their teenage problems, which we don't see as a big deal. The difficulty to communicate with the other side of the barrier can only be solved if we are ready to listen and if we are willing to adopt their ever-changing channels and languages. Albeit the depiction of the three characters might appear shallow, this should be considered as Waldron's deliberate attempt to outline the personalities of fourteen-year- olds, with their endless doubts and sudden mood changes.