Review: The Kindergarten Teacher

In The Kindergarten Teacher, Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Lisa Spinelli, a financially comfortable, fortysomething married woman with two teenaged children who has spent nearly half her life teaching five-year-olds the alphabet and preparing them for their journey through the American educational system.

She's an aspiring poet though, judging by one of her poems, she seems to fall into the category of "those who can't, teach." There's a palpable desperation in her passion, a resigned discontent borne out of the deep knowledge that she will never be more than mundane. This self-awareness is further stoked by a supportive but obviously unenthused husband (Michael Chernus), two children who would rather she be both not seen and not heard, and the charismatic instructor (Gael García Bernal) of the adult-education poetry class she attends; the latter is all encouraging smiles, but it's painfully clear to her that he holds her compositions about flowers and butterflies in low regard.

It's no surprise that she finds herself immediately inspired by overhearing one of her young charges, a boy named Jimmy (Parker Sevak), craft a poem of surprising depth, which she quickly jots down. Learning from the boy's nanny Becca (Rosa Salazar) that this is not an unusual occurrence, she asks Becca to let her know when Jimmy comes up with more poems and to make sure to write them down. Whilst it's not necessarily unexpected that she would read one of Jimmy's poems in her poetry class, pass it off as her own, and thrive under the newfound attention and admiration of her instructor, it is remarkable how quickly and irrevocably she loses herself in her obsession, and how she justifies her self-serving efforts as preserving and nurturing Jimmy's creative spirit. Good intentions soon blur into inappropriate behaviour.

A remake of the 2014 Israeli film of the same name, The Kindergarten Teacher is a disturbing moral thriller anchored by Gyllenhaal's complex, nuanced and uncompromising portrayal. In many respects and despite Sara Colangelo's assured direction, this is very much a film that lives and dies on the strength of Gyllenhaal's performance. This is a tale that requires the audience to be on Lisa's side despite every fibre of their being telling them otherwise, and Gyllenhaal makes Lisa's actions both perfectly understandable, almost excusable, whilst still conveying the errors in judgment that occur again and again. Though there is no other way for this to end but badly for Lisa, Colangelo achieves a simmering dread and suspense.

The Kindergarten Teacher

Directed by: Sara Colangelo

Written by: Sara Colangelo; based on the 2014 screenplay by Nadav Lapid

Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Parker Sevak, Michael Chernus, Gael García Bernal, Rosa Salazar, Anna Baryshnikov, Ajay Naidu