Synopsis
Lisa Spinelli is a Staten Island teacher who is unusually devoted to her students. When she discovers one of her five-year-olds is a prodigy, she becomes fascinated with the boy, ultimately risking her family and freedom to nurture his talent.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Maggie GyllenhaalLisa Spinelli
- Parker SevakJimmy Roy
- Gael García BernalSimon
- Michael ChernusGrant Spinelli
- Rosa SalazarBecca
- Ajay NaiduNikhil Roy
- Anna BaryshnikovMeghan
- Daisy TahanLainie Spinelli
- Sam JulesJosh Spinelli
- Samrat ChakrabartiSanjay Roy
Recommandations
- 100
The Guardian
The Kindergarten Teacher is probably the only movie about poetry with an ending as tense as any thriller. - 83
IndieWire
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. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Rippling with psychological complexity and sneaky humor, this is a rich character study that takes constantly surprising turns. - 80
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Lisa’s drive is more than biological; it’s intellectual and emotional, and that’s what keeps what often risks becoming camp madness in an identifiably human place — almost all the way to the end. - 80
Screen Daily
Writer-director Sara Colangelo’s intimate, slender drama withholds much about its main character, which allows Gyllenhaal to sketch the outline of a fractured soul. - 75
The Playlist
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. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
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 - 70
Variety
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.
