Image Credit: Sony Pictures Classics
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, an educator is pushed to her limits. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhiteand Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite
“Hey teacher,” Pink Floyd famously sang, “leave those kids alone!” Before I go too far into Alan Partridge for this introduction, let me be clear that it’s both the teachers and students you have to worry about in Ilker Çatak new drama, which builds its tension effectively.
Written by Çatak alongside Johannes Duncker, The Teacher’s Lounge stars Leonie Benesch as Carla Nowak, a dedicated, idealistic sports and math teacher, starts her first job at a German high school. When a series of thefts occur at the school and one of her students is suspected, she decides to get to the bottom of the matter on her own. Carla tries to mediate between outraged parents, opinionated colleagues and aggressive students, but is relentlessly confronted with the structures of the school system. The more desperately she tries to do everything right, the more the young teacher threatens to break.
Race, paranoia and the challenges of modern school life all factor into this one, which features not just an astonishingly raw and increasingly nervy performance from Duncker, but across the board fine work from the whole cast, who feel naturalistic even as the situation boils over.
If there’s an issue with the film, it’s that it doesn’t quite stick the landing, the wrap up coming somewhat abruptly and one other subplot lacking the same weight as the main story. But those are small complaints for a well-composed and wonderfully realised drama.
The Teacher’s Lounge is Germany’s selection for Best International Feature at this year’s Oscars, and while it seems like to be beaten by either The Zone Of Interest or Society Of The Snow, it is more than worth your time, even if it’ll make you uncomfortable at times.
The Teacher’s Lounge is on limited release in US cinemas now and will be out in the UK on 22 March.