The Kindergarten Teacher

The 6.7/10 on IMDb is disappointing to me. This film is not exactly the genre I am typically drawn too, but it proceeded to instantly peek my interest by performing well fundamentally. The score was eerie when it needed to be, and it was chipper and enticing the rest of the time. There was nothing crazy in this film and it had no huge plot twists, but that didn't stop it from building and building until I just couldn't wait to see what happened next. The characterization was what really made The Kindergarten Teacher shine. Only two characters really needed development, and they got ALL of it. I was enthralled in their relationship. Give this film a chance even if you are not a fan of dramas.

What plays out as a drama for the first hour, turns into an uncomfortable thriller, as a down on her luck teacher takes a special interest in a young bright student who has a knack for creating poems far beyond his age. Not seeing a trailer and knowing next to nothing before tuning in, there's never really a key as to where the film is going, both in structure and intention. It keeps you on your toes but it also creates more and more tension and a cringey feeling in your stomach when Maggie Gyllenhaal's 'Lisa' makes each move to get closer to her student. It's icky and both depressing how far she goes to make herself feel accomplished and worth something. So in that sense, this is a fascinating character study of psycho teacher, who just happens to also be incredibly kind and giving.

7.5/10

Due to the excellence of its acting, direction and screenplay, 'The Kindergarten Teacher' is frequently uncomfortable to watch. It tells the story of Lisa, who has become constrained by the routine of her job, frustrated with her grouchy teenage kids and bored by an overweight husband. In response, she has enrolled in an adult education poetry writing program to broaden her experience of life. Unfortunately Lisa has little talent herself - and when she overhears one of her young pupils Jimmy composing a short poem, she presents it to her class teacher as her own work. When he expresses admiration for its strong imagery, she decides it's her duty to foster Jimmy's gift, which leads her into dangerous territory after she runs into parental opposition.

It's easy to see the film as a metaphor how yearning for truth and beauty can turn an ordinary person into an outcast, as Lisa's encouragement of Jimmy swiftly bypasses appropriate behavior and becomes obsessive. When Lisa's poetry teacher reprimands her for being a dilettante, he fails to see how she's willing to sacrifice everything for the art she loves, while he uses poetry as a means to seduce his students. At its conclusion, poetry has certainly broadened Lisa's experience of life, but not in a way she might have wished or anticipated.

Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a stellar performance in The Kindergarten Teacher. This movie was a touch watch, but it was oh-so-worth it. It was very slow and methodical. I'm laughing at all the one-three star reviews because it's clearly people who were on their phone half the time or just haven't ever seen a movie which actually makes them feel something for a change. I don't normally post reviews because why should anyone care about my opinion, but I couldn't let this great movie get bogged down by fools who coooompletely missed the point the movie was trying to get across.

This is a fascinating film, although not one that immediately appears as such. The Kindergarten Teacher is a patient and slow-moving watch, but it's one that creates an enthralling tension beneath the surface, as we see rather bizarre but fairly innocent behaviour get more and more out of hand, furthered by a riveting social perspective that adds a brilliant emotional depth to the main characters.

So, the main thing to know is that if you watch The Kindergarten Teacher, it's not a film that will come to you in the first ten minutes. In fact, it's all a little strange over the course of the first act, as we see Maggie Gyllenhaal's character being bizarrely obsessed with a five year old boy, yet with the story presenting it as if there's nothing abnormal about what's going on.

However, the story really does come good in the latter stages (which I will get into), but that doesn't mean that it's a boring watch early on either.

Above all, Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance is what makes The Kindergarten Teacher work right the way through, as she gives a down-to-earth and thoroughly convincing portrayal of a clearly kind-hearted woman, yet is able to subtly create a certain tension and unpredictability about her over the course of the first act - getting a little too close to her student, and coming out with rather uncharacteristic hippie-esque soundbites - something that really intrigued me as her character's true nature becomes clear throughout.

It's an undoubtedly excellent performance, and Gyllenhaal gives it the ambiguity and tension that the film really needs to make its central themes work.

Now, while that tension and uncertainty grows and grows as the teacher's behaviour becomes ever more bizarre, the film introduces some really fascinating central ideas that lend a stunning emotional depth to our main character, as well as the story as a whole.

At first, you're left a little bemused as to why this woman is acting in such a strange way, but there's a riveting peeling back of the layers throughout that show the stress and disappointment in her own life that has eventually led her to this point.

In that, the film has a little bit of a commentary on the nature of mid-life crises, while also bringing the widely relatable notion of feeling disappointed at your own failures, as we see a woman with ambition and a wider appreciation for the world, and yet has come up short time and time again, further frustrated by the rest of the world's seeming apathy towards the finer things of life, as she sees her own failings mirrored in the potential future of a young boy.

What's even more interesting about those central themes, however, is that they can be interpreted in a variety of ways, largely depending on how optimistic or pessimistic you are towards the nature of art and poetry, as well as your own personal take on ambitions and purpose in life in general.

As a result, The Kindergarten Teacher isn't a film that spoonfeeds you with a narrative showing our main character as simply good or bad, but instead makes you think with a more ambiguous portrayal, leaving you to fall back on your own interpretations to make a judgment of your own, something that I found absolutely fascinating and incredibly rewarding come the end of the film.

Overall, I was really rather impressed by The Kindergarten Teacher. It starts off in bizarre fashion, and although its main thematic core doesn't really come about until about halfway, there's a riveting dramatic tension that bubbles right from the start thanks to Maggie Gyllenhaal's fantastic performance, culminating in a drama that's both enthralling, and really makes you think.