The Kindergarten Teacher

Name: The Kindergarten Teacher
Genre: Drama
Released: October 12, 2018
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 76
Cast: Ajay Naidu, Anna Baryshnikov, Ato Blankson-Wood, Carter Kojima, Daisy Tahan

2018

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	Your Score
7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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The Kindergarten Teacher

Movie Details & Credits

Not Rated

Netflix | Release Date: October 12, 2018

Starring: Ajay Naidu, Anna Baryshnikov, Ato Blankson-Wood, Carter Kojima, Daisy Tahan, Gael García Bernal, Gianna Jean, Haley Murphy, Jillian Panlilio, Libya Pugh, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Chernus, Noah Rhodes, Parker Sevak, Rosa Salazar, Sam Jules, Samrat Chakrabarti, Stefaniya Makarova

Summary: When a Staten Island kindergarten teacher discovers what may be a gifted five year-old student in her class, she becomes fascinated and obsessed with the child—spiraling downward on a dangerous and desperate path in order to nurture his talent. [Netflix]

Director: Sara Colangelo

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 96 min

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Awards & Rankings

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Metascore

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

100

The Guardian - Jordan Hoffman

The Kindergarten Teacher is probably the only movie about poetry with an ending as tense as any thriller. Read full review

Consequence of Sound - Clint Worthington

Oct 14, 2018

Gyllenhaal gives one of the most staggering performances of her career, and Colangelo’s deft command of tone keeps the lengths to which Lisa will go to stay close to Jimmy’s perceived greatness close to the chest right up to the end. Read full review

L.A. Weekly - Alan Scherstuhl

Oct 11, 2018

The Kindergarten Teacher dares us to work out for ourselves, from moment to moment, whether Lisa is a hero, a monster or something in-between Read full review

The Playlist - Gregory Ellwood

Colangelo’s adaptation continually feels like it’s missing something.... Luckily though, Collangelo has Gyllenhaal, who is exceptional at times here, to carry it through. Read full review

New York Post - Sara Stewart

Oct 11, 2018

Maggie Gyllenhaal goes from caring to creepy in this Netflix release. Read full review

Variety - Dennis Harvey

Colangelo (whose underrated 2014 first feature “Little Accidents” was about the aftermath of a fatal mining accident) has created a consistently interesting if slow-moving drama that works very well as a showcase for its lead performer. Read full review

The Film Stage - Dan Mecca

While The Kindergarten Teacher ends at the perfect moment following an extremely strong final ten minutes, it’s ultimately a muddled experience. But then maybe that’s part of the point. Read full review

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User Reviews

movieducation

Oct 24, 2018

Sometimes, a couple of words is worth a thousand pictures too and that is Maggie Gyllenhaal's complexity in THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER. It could be easily beyond the grasp and she holds it into something else : sensitive, desperate, somehow dangerous but understandable.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Oct 15, 2018

I's not superior to the original film but they are definitely on par. And that is something that very rarely and hardly can be said of an American remake of a foreign film.

Maggie Gyllenhaal offers the best performance of her career in many years and her work is a great reason to see thisI's not superior to the original film but they are definitely on par. And that is something that very rarely and hardly can be said of an American remake of a foreign film.

Maggie Gyllenhaal offers the best performance of her career in many years and her work is a great reason to see this film. Whether you saw the original or not. It's worth it.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

amheretojudge

Oct 16, 2018

resisting it and not fighting it..

The Kindergarten Teacher Colangelo has a very tricky and hard (hard isn't something we usually get) tale to tell. The focused subject isn't aware of the potential and the one (the kindergarten teacher) setting up the stage does. The rawness that subjectresisting it and not fighting it..

The Kindergarten Teacher

Colangelo has a very tricky and hard (hard isn't something we usually get) tale to tell. The focused subject isn't aware of the potential and the one (the kindergarten teacher) setting up the stage does. The rawness that subject has, has to be kept alive and yet should be explained the "yes" and "no"s of the world. Now, the teacher has to walk a thin line on elaborating and sculpting this entire phenomenon to the subject, which she does in a very subtle way. And Colangelo has a much more thinner line where she has to explain this entire communication in the most simplistic way. And on that note, it is a triumph on a cinematic level. But what drags down this magical act, is the cultural semantics that it feels somehow obliged to follow. If we sweep of that semantics, there lies a sensational and moving poem ready to change our views. Amidst all those poems recited by the student, wait for Gyllenhaal's rhymes; you are mesmerized and in awe of the specificity of it. It undoubtedly is utterly metaphorical to the core. The side characters are mere pawn and the primary ones are bots that we revolve around. Colangelo has got one more thing aptly on mark. Her characters are three dimensional. They are more humane, they are flawed, they are ethically wrong and they are brooding mistakes and reminiscing about the already made ones. The narration is layered and adaptive, but it isn't gripping since it finds itself busy on building up for the upcoming sequences to a point where you may think that she forget that it is being watched. Nevertheless, the pragmatic conversation, higher concept that it fiddles with, riveting poems and Colangelo's passion keeps you tangled in this innocent bubble. The supporting cast has done a decent work, although nothing outstanding. Gyllenhaal's stellar performance is what purely the feature relies upon on terms of execution. She fuels this entire act by resisting it and not fighting it. She understands the repercussion, she understands the obviousness, and writes an honest poem on screen to be read. The way she looks at his student can be iterated as a gist of the tale. That overwhelming dose that she is going through is what's foliated by Colangelo through her direction, which she does succeed on. The process is rudimentary, the structure is familiar and the lucid interpretation of the intentions in its initial stage, shucks away the concept's integrity; it may feel like such a brilliant idea is taken for granted in here. The range of the script is surprisingly wider, it soothes and heals you with its poem and fabrication of it but it also keeps you on the edge of the seat where you are immensely worried about the characters; we are practically scared. The Kindergarten Teacher is a lesson to be learnt by the viewers and by the makers, this edgy tale should not be pushed, not the characters, not the semantics.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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