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'The Kindergarten Teacher' Review With Casey

Courtesy of "The Kindergarten Teach"

I usually address a newly released film in my weekly reviews, but this week I'm writing about a brilliant 2018 film called The Kindergarten Teacher currently available through Netflix. Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight, 2008) plays an unsatisfied kindergarten teacher in New York City who thinks one of her students is a gifted prodigy of original poetry. But the teacher's nurturing guidance slowly, and unnervingly, transforms into passionate infatuation. 

The film is an English language adaptation of the original 2014 version (with the same title) from Israel written & directed by Nadav Lapid (Synonyms, 2019). The gently written/well-adapted screenplay and amazingly measured performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal offer a relatable and beguiling story about the line between interest and obsession. Teachers can give students a lot of hope...but sometimes they can give danger too. Such a great story that felt subtle, tense, and desperate without going into melodrama.

 

Select Larry H. Miller movie theaters throughout Utah are scheduled to show films to the public again starting on June 18th. These theaters will not be showing new releases but will be showing contemporary classics of adventure like Jurassic Park (1993), The Goonies (1985), and E.T. (1982). The select theaters will also be showing animated films (presumably) for children like Despicable Me (2010) and Shrek (2001). Showing these older films is expected to serve as a "soft" reopening of these movie theaters that will hopefully determine if new films can be released safely in the theaters the following week. Only time will tell if new films can be shown in public settings.