"The Kindergarten Teacher" 2018 Review
"The Kindergarten Teacher" (2018) is a remake of the 2014 Israeli film of the same name and it tells the story of an amateur poet/kindergarten teacher played by Maggie Gyllenhaal whom becomes obsessed with a gifted student in her class (Parker Sevak).
What I love about the movie is its unique premise and the way the protagonist is framed in the story. She feel alienated from her family and the most important thing to her is more so about connecting with another person in an intimate way than it is about poetry. On the surface, we see an adult woman doing some really disturbing and creepy things to her student but beneath all that, she's doing it in order to emotionally connect with another person. Although you're not going to agree with most of the things she ends up doing, we get where she's coming from.
I also love the way director Sara Colangelo and cinematographer Pepe Avila del Pino shoot the scenes with the protagonist with her family and at work and how it differs from the intimate framing of her and the boy. Of course, Maggie Gyllenhaal is incredible and gives one of the most empathetic and memorable performances I've ever seen from any actor this entire year. This is one of my favourite performances in recent memory.
Some things that kind of bugged me though is the movie's awkward pacing towards the final 20 minutes of the movie. It's an entire third act that felt rushed and ends abruptly and I wish the movie had taken its time like it did in its first hour -but oh well. Also the performance from Parker Sevak is just serviceable at best. Although, you can argue that that's the nature of his character. Sure, but I still felt really bored watching him.
Very good movie, very empathetic characters and also Maggie Gyllenhaal is amazing.