Maggie Gyllenhaal is electric as the gentle yet obsessive teacher, who turns from curious to discomforting in no time.

It’s an absolutely chilling performance, especially how she practically uses her quietly spoken demeanour to her advantage, subverting what we might traditionally associate with a more outrightly manipulative character.

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I went into The Kindergarten Teacher, thinking, “Oh, this might be a life-affirming tale of a teacher who nurtures a young talent!" Who knows, Maggie will play a Miss Honey-like character, and this will be a heart-lifting story of sorts! No, no, no. Nothing is as simple, and I have to say, prefer the subverted tale that I got instead. My head was spinning when the penny dropped about Ms Lisa and Jimmy’s teacher-student relationship. It’s not quite what you’re thinking; it’s almost worse with how psychologically intense this was. You feel helpless as you watch a young mind being manipulated by someone that should be trusted in society. I emphasise 'should', as toxic power dynamics can exist in all forms, which makes this all the more fascinating. It is still a broom with a “g”, even if it’s not in a physical sense, making it an uneasy watch.

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What could’ve been a life-affirming tale becomes a life-denying one. We see Ms Lisa effortlessly exercise inappropriate behaviour at every turn. How can a child defy a person in an authoritative position? Whilst we are not shown an “explicit” type of situation, the connotations of up-ageing the person interacted with and where conversations take place are wrong. It shows how “nurture” can easily turn into “harm”. Were there signs that we missed before the talent was identified and it became a prize to gain? It’s horrifying to see Ms Lisa manoeuvre and attempt to, well frankly, isolate Jimmy away from his closest ones. It veers into obsession, even if it curiously asks about how art is (de)valued in society. Even if Ms Lisa could recognise the value of harnessing creativity in a world that rejects it, it’s worse to harness it in a way that is rejected by the world too.

So who’s going to listen to the child that whispers “I’ve got a poem" now?

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🐧 P R E V : 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙋𝙊𝘿 𝙂𝙀𝙉𝙀𝙍𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉
🍰 A L L 𝕄𝕒𝕣 𝕎𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕤