Post by stephen on Oct 21, 2018 2:26:47 GMT
Maggie Gyllenhaal's latest film (an American remake of a 2014 Israeli movie of the same name) is one of the most unnerving, unsettling experiences of the year. It isn't a film that relies on big blow-ups or scheming machinations, yet it is brutally effective (almost to a fault, really) at turning the screws on its audience.
Gyllenhaal's performance as a sweet-natured Staten Island kindergarten teacher who takes an interest in a precocious pint-sized poet in her class seems at first to be a film about the recognition and guidance of budding genius. But without giving too much away, it soon becomes a story about insecurity, validation and a desperation to matter in the grand scheme of things. For her part, Gyllenhaal's performance is one of the most mature and multi-faceted of her career.
Still, the film really undercuts itself hard in the final act to an almost frustrating, nonsensical degree. I don't want to give too much away in my complaints, except this: bathrooms don't lock from the outside.
Gyllenhaal's performance as a sweet-natured Staten Island kindergarten teacher who takes an interest in a precocious pint-sized poet in her class seems at first to be a film about the recognition and guidance of budding genius. But without giving too much away, it soon becomes a story about insecurity, validation and a desperation to matter in the grand scheme of things. For her part, Gyllenhaal's performance is one of the most mature and multi-faceted of her career.
Still, the film really undercuts itself hard in the final act to an almost frustrating, nonsensical degree. I don't want to give too much away in my complaints, except this: bathrooms don't lock from the outside.
