The Kindergarten Teacher, written and directed by Sara Colangelo, was screened to great audience approval at the Sundance Film Festival in January. The movie which was shown in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section and has generated great buzz at the festival. Here are five great reasons to see it.
The Kindergarten Teacher is a complex moral thriller
When it opens, The Kindergarten Teacher appears to be an interesting character drama centered on the boredom and dissatisfaction of Lisa, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is the kindergarten teacher of the title. Rather quickly and entirely unexpectedly the film veers off course and becomes a tense nail biting moral thriller. Lisa becomes obsessed with the young Peter Roy who she judges to be neglected and unrecognized. As the wife and mother of two rather disappointing teenagers becomes gradually more unhinged and crosses more lines the audience is left with a terrifying fear in the pit of their stomachs. The journey is compelling, cringe worthy and altogether harrowing. The remake of the film, originally directed by Israeli director Nadav Lapid, opens it up to a much wider global audience although it is especially resonates with American audiences as it explores the dumbing down of our world and exploits our sensitivity and awareness of child abuse
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performance in The Kindergarten Teacher is a masterclass.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is an actress that never fails to deliver and she’s reason enough to catch any movie. In The Kindergarten Teacher she may deliver her best performance ever as the compelling and deeply flawed Lisa. Gyllenhaal absolutely inhabits Lisa and almost convinces the audience that she is the only one who can protect Peter Roy’s remarkable talents in an uncaring world that has lost the ability to appreciate beauty. Maggie Gyllenhaal single-handedly elevates the harrowing tale and is a joy to watch as she changes from invested teacher to unhinged and predatory lunatic so subtly it is almost imperceptible.
It is directed by one of the best up and coming female directors
In the current culturally climate of #metoo and #timesup it is more important than ever to support the work of female film makers. In the case of The Kindergarten Teacher this is no chore as Sara Colangelo’s second film is a sharp character study that is well worth seeing. The director, who graduated from New York University’s Graduate Film Program, manages to extract stunning performances from the young child actor and the big star. The Kindergarten Teacher moves along with a pace and tension that leave the audience gripped for the entire 96 minutes. Her first film is Little Accidents featured Elizabeth Banks and Chloe Sevigny received critical acclaim for the performances also.
It’s got a lot to say about the racial context in America.
You should see this film because it’s part of an important conversation about race in America. Jimmy Roy is half -Indian and the film does not hold back when it explores the visual impact and the context of a white woman who is exploiting a non-white child. Lisa steals his creative work and takes credit for the small brown child’s poems while believing herself to be the only supporter of the child and the only one who recognizes him as a prodigy.
Introducing Parker Sevak.
And finally, another great reason to check out this film is to get a chance to see a remarkable first film performance by child actor . Parker Sevak. If the words” child actor” conjure an image in your mind of a stage brat with phony jazz hands and an ear to ear grin you are in for a real treat with an astonishing performance from the young Parker Sevak. He plays the young Jimmy Roy the object of Gyllenhaal’s disquieting and obsessive attentions and the supposed poetry prodigy at the heart of the story. As the film and Gyllenhaal gradually veer into unexpected territory the young Sevak holds his own playing opposite the acting powerhouse with an Oscar nod.
No general release date has yet been set for The kindergarten Teacher but when it comes to theaters around the country make sure to check it out.
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