The Kindergarten Teacher

Name: The Kindergarten Teacher
Genre: Drama
Released: October 12, 2018
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 75
Cast: Ajay Naidu, Anna Baryshnikov, Ato Blankson-Wood, Carter Kojima, Daisy Tahan

2018

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Ratings

See All

7.5

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7.5	Your Score
7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Kindergarten Teacher

Now Playing: The Kindergarten Teacher

Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: October 12, 2018 | Not Rated

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

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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

IndieWire David Ehrlich

Gyllenhaal has been too good too often to label any one of her performances as her best, but she’s certainly never been better than she is here. Read full review

Empire Ian Freer

Mar 8, 2019

Small-scale and slow, The Kindergarten Teacher works best as a showcase for the brilliance of Maggie Gyllenhaal. Adding another complex character to her resume, it’s another reminder she is among the best actors working today. Read full review

Leah Greenblatt

Oct 9, 2018

Gyllenhaal, bright-eyed and brittle, brings her signature intensity to the role, though Lisa’s true inner world remains murky; it’s never quite clear if she’s just deeply unhappy or certifiably ill. Instead, the movie remains an intriguing but ambiguous portrait of a flawed, fascinating woman who knows herself either too well or not at all Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Apr 17, 2020

The Kindergarten Teacher is a great performance, the latest from an actress with a reputation for giving them. Watch it on Netflix and see what the Academy missed. Read full review

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

Filipe Freitas

Dec 25, 2018

The only reason to watch The Kindergarten Teacher is Ms. Gyllenhaal’s performance, whose quality makes us resist until it’s possible. Read full review

SEE ALL 27 REVIEWS

Write a Review

Negative:

User Reviews

DawdlingPoet

Nov 20, 2021

This is a subtle film. It takes a little while to focus on who is clearly the child of primary focus, character wise (the teacher aside). I really rate Maggie Gyllenhaal as an actress - she is quite expressive and it shows that she cares for and truly wants to encourage the child's creativeThis is a subtle film. It takes a little while to focus on who is clearly the child of primary focus, character wise (the teacher aside). I really rate Maggie Gyllenhaal as an actress - she is quite expressive and it shows that she cares for and truly wants to encourage the child's creative talent. I should point out that there is more going on than first seems but I won't elaborate, obviously so as not to provide any spoilers of course.

However, there is also a darker side that is suggested at times and that made me curious to find out more about the childs family/background. The music played (mostly stringed instruments) gives it a slightly spooky and sort of claustrophobic angle as well.

There is some poignant dialogue and I thought this film was well made, hence I'd recommend it - the only downside I felt was that there are unanswered questions by the end, which may frustrate you.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Johnrieber

Nov 25, 2018

This is a very thought-provoking film. Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a powerful performance, as a woman who is seeking some meaning in her life, and she thinks she finds it in a gifted young Kindergarten student. The young boy who plays this part is also terrific, but this is Gyllenhaal's filmThis is a very thought-provoking film. Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a powerful performance, as a woman who is seeking some meaning in her life, and she thinks she finds it in a gifted young Kindergarten student. The young boy who plays this part is also terrific, but this is Gyllenhaal's film all the way and she is compelling from start to finish. "Quite desperation" describe her at the beginning, and "honorably unhinged" she where she ends up. A really good movie.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

IsaacJ

Jun 26, 2019

“Anna is beautiful, beautiful enough for me. The sun hits her yellow house, it’s almost like a sign from God”. This is the poem uttered eerily instinctively by five-year old Jimmy (Parker Sevak) in Sara Colangelo’s The Kindergarten Teacher, a tantalising remake of the Israeli film of the“Anna is beautiful, beautiful enough for me. The sun hits her yellow house, it’s almost like a sign from God”. This is the poem uttered eerily instinctively by five-year old Jimmy (Parker Sevak) in Sara Colangelo’s The Kindergarten Teacher, a tantalising remake of the Israeli film of the same name. Jimmy’s poetic compositions seem only to catch the curiosity of his kindergarten teacher, Lisa Spinelli (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who we see is quietly disillusioned with the mundanity of her everyday life and distanced from her family. Her only passion appears to be poetry; she attends late night classes with an attractive professor (Gael Garcia Bernal), but he thinks her poems are “derivative” and lack originality. But something snaps when she hears Jimmy’s poem; her intrigue in the child’s ‘gift’ (“We’re dealing with a young Mozart”) steadily begins to slide into obsession, making for a delightfully unsettling psychodrama where Gyllenhaal is the true star.
The Kindergarten Teacher is a thoroughly interesting film, teeming with nuance and subtleties. It’s a definite slow burn, a film that creeps up the tension, walking that knife edge between believable and otherwise just as its character does. Initially when we meet Lisa, her loneliness is palpable. Much of the film, however, focuses on her relationship with this young boy, as her actions become all the more disconcerting; nap times are replaced with exchanges of phone numbers, Jimmy’s babysitter is fired so Lisa can spend more time with him and so on. It’s a masterfully crafted piece, conjuring a distinctly sinister tone that still manages to cement itself in reality and blossoms with ambiguity. Whilst Colangelo is an assured directing talent and the young Parker Sevak is remarkable, the real force behind The Kindergarten Teacher is Maggie Gyllenhaal, who delivers one of the most understated yet powerful performances of her career. Often the camera will settle woozily just on her face; even with no words, Gyllenhaal’s expressions seep with isolation, loneliness and, upon ‘discovering’ Jimmy’s talent, a creepily ecstatic sense of hope. It is Gyllenhaal who manages to keep the film grounded; even as Lisa’s actions become all the more unnerving, the performance allows us to totally buy her motives and keep us strangely sympathetic.
It is safe to say that The Kindergarten Teacher is not a film for everyone. The pace is deliberately unhurried, allowing the story to unfold with gripping if sometimes frustrating slowness. Equally, it’s a film of unanswered questions; are Lisa’s actions simply out of nurture? Is Jimmy being groomed? How far should one go in the pursuit of art? Is Lisa the only one who truly recognises Jimmy’s talent? Most cynical of all… is Jimmy even as good as Lisa insists he is? These themes and questions are explored yet blissfully never explained in the film; in the end, the answers are left purely to our perception. The subject matter is never covered too overtly or with any gratuity; for example, there is no suggestion of a sexual element to Lisa and Jimmy’s relationship. The Kindergarten Teacher is far cleverer than that; though Lisa’s actions are never shown positively, neither are they shown negatively either. Is she actually the only one helping Jimmy? Colangelo proves nothing here is black and white.
In terms of the general craftsmanship, there is impressive work here too. Asher Goldschmidt’s score is jagged and tense and Pepe Avila del Pino’s camera sweeps with versatility from wide landscapes to intimate close-ups. All in all, The Kindergarten Teacher is an expert piece of filmmaking, subtle and complex. It’s the sort of movie that will leave you thinking about it for days after, pondering its riddles and marvelling at that gorgeous central performance.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

alejandro970

Dec 2, 2018

Doused by complexity, a psychological drama about a probably Asperger kid and his potential talents, and his teacher -remarkable Maggie Gyllenhaal- who tries to help him with good intentions. Good choice.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

LegendaryLass

Jan 5, 2019

As with all truly worthwhile films, it keeps you guessing and shocks you with its twists. Gyllenhall is an astonishing portrait of desperation.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

mohamad91hk

Aug 22, 2019

The film is all about the performance of Maggie, the story isn't strong, it's just about the obsession of a teacher on a talented child, also the story isn't attractive, if anyone read the plot before watching the film, they will skip it. This kind of story could be better as a short movieThe film is all about the performance of Maggie, the story isn't strong, it's just about the obsession of a teacher on a talented child, also the story isn't attractive, if anyone read the plot before watching the film, they will skip it. This kind of story could be better as a short movie not in 96 minutes.

I would like to salute Maggie about her solid performance, she was perfect and must be nominated for a reward, she is deeply involved in her role, you can see it by her reactions, facial expressions, etc. you feel every part of her body was acting even when she was silent.

If you want to watch an enjoyable story, this is not a good choice, but if you like to see a great performance, this one will be a good choice.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 15 REVIEWS