The Kindergarten Teacher

Gentle and subtle portrait of a kindergarten schoolteacher (Maggie Gylenhaal) who discovers a child prodigy with an extra ordinary poetry talent.

What makes this movie interesting is not the success story of this child's talent, but the many failures the kindergarten teacher herself has suffered in her life, in trying to become a good writer. Now she wants to own this kid's talent, compensating for her own shortcomings in writing.

It is an intriguing, subtle picture, worthwhile watching, yet missing in excellence, because of a lack of credibility of the story at certain crucial plot turns. This story is not very believable near the end, and as a result, the drama starts lacking as well.

For example: I simply can not believe any schoolteacher would go as far as taking one of her schoolkids to her own house and letting him stay overnight, without alerting the parents first.

Therefore the biggest downfall of this story is that it lacks in a believable plot turn at a crucial dramatic moment near the end.

Dont get me wrong, the end is beautiful allright, but it fizzles out a bit as well. Such a shame, because this story had all the ingredients in becoming a gem.

It is still a very interesting, touching picture, definitely worthwhile watching, but it unfortunately is missing in excellence...

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.

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.

I've never reviewed a film on IMDb but this felt necessary, because a lot of you completely miss the point. There's a difference between an honest look at mental Illness and validating the actions of a mentally ill person. This movie in no way says that what the title character is doing okay. It just had you watch the behavior and judge it as you will.

This is a sad story. As an artist, poet and highly creative person, it made me think about how difficult it is when we only value one type of intelligence or life experience. It does have psycho sexual themes but there's a difference between elevating /romanticizing a child, lack of boundaries, and being a pedophile.

It's uncomfortable, yeah. But obsession is. And obsession dissnr have to equate to sexual desire. The little boy in this story is not sexualized.

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