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Drama  •  2018  •  96 min  •  Adults (18+)

The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)

The Kindergarten Teacher poster

The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)

Rating & Dimensions

Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Center
Political: Center
Diversity: Moderate
Race Swap: Yes
Family Values: Leans Progressive
Viewer Rating
7.4

Overview

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.

Starring Cast

Maggie Gyllenhaal  •   Gael García Bernal  •   Ato Blankson-Wood

Where to watch

Netflix logoNetflix
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Detailed Bias Analysis

Analyzing...
Center

Primary

Political: Center
Confidence: High

The film explores the psychological descent of a kindergarten teacher obsessed with a student's poetic talent, focusing on individual pathology and the ethical boundaries of mentorship. It does not promote a specific political ideology, instead presenting a character study of unfulfilled artistic ambition and its destructive consequences.

Diversity: Moderate
Confidence: High

The film features visible diversity in its cast, including prominent Latino and Black actors in supporting roles. The narrative focuses on individual character psychology and does not explicitly critique traditional identities or center on strong DEI themes.

Secondary

Race Swap: Yes
Confidence: High

The 2018 film is an adaptation of a 2014 Israeli movie. The character of the young poetic child, portrayed as white in the original, is depicted by a Black actor in the American remake, constituting a race swap.

Family Values: Leans Progressive
Confidence: High

The film portrays a protagonist who finds her traditional nuclear family unfulfilling, leading her to an affair and an inappropriate obsession with a student. This narrative questions the ideal of traditional family structures as a source of complete emotional and artistic fulfillment.

LGBTQ: N/A
Confidence: High

The film does not feature any identifiable LGBTQ+ characters or themes. Its narrative focuses on a kindergarten teacher's escalating obsession with a gifted student, exploring themes of artistic ambition and ethical boundaries without incorporating queer identities or storylines.

Trans: N/A
Confidence: High

The Kindergarten Teacher does not feature any identifiable transsexual characters or themes. The narrative centers on a teacher's escalating obsession with a young student she believes to be a poetic prodigy, exploring themes of artistic ambition and ethical boundaries.

Female Combat: N/R

The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.

Gender Swap: No
Confidence: High

The film is an adaptation where the primary characters' genders align with their portrayals in the original source material. No established characters undergo a gender change.

Viewer Rating Breakdown

7.4

Viewer Rating

Combines user and critic ratings from four sources

User Ratings

IMDB logo
6.7
The Movie Database logo
6.6

Critic Ratings

Rotten Tomatoes logo
9.0
Metacritic logo
7.5

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