The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)

Directed by: Sara Colangelo | 96 minutes | drama | Actors: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Parker Sevak, Gael García Bernal, Ato Blankson-Wood, Libya Pugh, Michael Chernus, Carter Kojima, Jillian Panlilio, Anna Baryshnikov, Noah Rhodes, Rosa Salazar, Daisy Tahan, Haley Murphy, Sam Jules, Carson Grant, Samrat Chakrabarti, Ajay Naidu, Stefaniya Makarova

She has been doing this work for almost twenty years. She is devoted, but the grind of everyday life has taken hold of her. There is also the disappointment: in her less than creative teenage son and daughter, who seem to need her and her husband less and less; in the lack of recognition of her creative talent in her recently started poetry course. Kindergarten teacher Lisa struggles with her existence. The discovery that one of her students – five-year-old Jimmy – is composing poems couldn’t come at a better time. Lisa immediately recognizes the boy’s talent, who cannot yet write, but suddenly and initially without notice declaims the most poetic texts. What starts as an interest slowly grows into an obsession.

‘The Kindergarten Teacher’, a remake of the Israeli film ‘Haganenet’ (2014), deals with a thorny theme and thus treads on thin ice. An adult’s unhealthy interest in a young child – it is certainly not an easy subject. It is thanks to the tight screenplay and the great acting of Maggie Gyllenhaal that no slips were made. This could easily have resulted in a film to be disgusted by, but luckily the director puts the brakes on and we slowly grow with the psychological exploration of the main character.

That’s not to say we don’t disapprove of Lisa’s behavior. She soon crosses boundaries that no person entrusted with the care of children is allowed to cross. At the same time, you understand her motivations. There is something idealistic in her: not to let youth go to waste, to hold on to that elusive talent that children lose later in life. Nor is it selfishness that drives her. It serves a higher purpose, for the community, for the world. That doesn’t make it less wrong, but more understandable.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is as wonderful and reliable as ever and lets us go a long way in her mindset. It is nice that the director respects Lisa, the sensational release in this film does not materialize. The downward spiral she finds herself in is smooth and almost imperceptible. Very nicely done. ‘The Kindergarten Teacher’ is an impressive look at a woman with bigger psychological problems than you would think based on the first meeting, and makes you think about how we view art. Not easy viewing, but definitely worth it.