Gyllenhaal Delivers Masterclass Performance in THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

Netflix made its presence known at film festivals around the world this past year, producing or landing distribution for many of 2018's most acclaimed works. At Sundance, the streaming giant acquired distribution rights to The Kindergarten Teacher, which was nominated for the festival’s grand jury prize and earned Sophia Colangelo the award for best direction in the drama category. On October 12th, Netflix released the film on their streaming site.

The Kindergarten Teacher is an American remake of a 2014 Israeli film directed by Nadav Lapid. Both films tell the story of a kindergarten teacher who self-righteously dedicates herself to nurturing the talent of a precocious student with an uncanny gift for composing poetry. Lapid directs the Israeli original with a formal audacity intended to draw attention to itself. Within the first 15 seconds of Lapid’s version, a character conspicuously bumps into the camera filming him, and, from then on, the camera functions as an almost conscious agent within the world of the film, equipped with a point of view distinctively its own and a range of movement not necessarily tethered to any character.

Colangelo pursues a more muted style in the new American version. She dresses the film in a palette of icy blues, suggesting a cold, hardened world, but one still…