The latest in our series of writers highlighting underappreciated films recommends Maggie Gyllenhaal’s standout performance as a woman losing her grip in a tense thriller
There are many things The Kindergarten Teacher, a 90-minute psychodrama now available to watch online, is not. It is not, for one, in any of the main pandemic-streaming categories – not a stress-processing action flick (Contagion), nor a nostalgic favorite. It’s not one of Netflix’s popular originals; the streamer seems to have botched the film’s US promotion when it was released in October 2018, despite an absolute knockout performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal that inexplicably did not earn any award nominations. But The Kindergarten Teacher, directed by Sara Colangelo and based on the 2014
Israeli film of the same name, is worth a watch as an absorbing portrait of one individual’s subtle but desperate slide into obsession, and as an affair story, though not the kind you’d expect. It’s also, to restate what’s worth restating, a masterclass showcase for Maggie Gyllenhaal.
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