The Teachers' Lounge
3.9/5
Based on 20 votes and 4 reviews.
Please rate between 1 to 5 stars
March 6, 2024
The very first classroom scene is setting the tone for the whole movie: The difference between a claim made (hypothesis) and the formal proof of it. What seems unambiguous in mathematics is much more tricky in real life, and the boundaries between good and bad, right and wrong, are increasingly starting to blur. Excellent acting, despite several of the characters indeed not being very likable.
March 1, 2024
Seen it twice now, and watching it for the second time actually helps quite a bit to notice those little nuances and details, and also makes the ending less ambiguous (though it still is). Excellent performances especially by Carla (the teacher) and Oskar (one of her students). Tough to see their worlds break apart from being happy and confident to a disaster over the course of the movie, showing humanity at its worst. A lot of ground in social conflicts and prejudice is covered, and most of the characters are not shown in their best light. The ending is very silent, with a highly disturbed Oskar softly reconnecting with his teacher again after despising her midway. Connect the dots… a powerful and intense movie with persuasive acting.
February 21, 2024
Great film, following a young and idealistic teacher in a German middle school. She certainly has the best intentions, trying to keep her students involved with some unconventional methods. Apparently some in the audience have mistaken this movie for a satire and were laughing at certain , where it was actually quite serious. Within the compact 90+ minutes, it touches on several current topics, e.g., political correctness such as the “Gendering” (using gender-neutral language) on one hand and “Zero-tolerance” policies on the other hand. Amazing to see her same colleagues complain about violations of their privacy rights when they have themselves just conducted a “voluntary” frisking of the students… what a hypocrisy! So, while everything is unintentionally spiraling down as a consequence of the events, you can’t help but feel the pain and confusion that Carla and her students, especially Oskar, are experiencing. Giving the overall positive impression of the movie, I was hoping for a more conclusive ending, but a star deduction here since a lot is left hanging to your own imagination. Anyway, worth the time!
February 17, 2024
Interesting movie. As you can guess from the title, it focuses on events at a middle school where some incidents of petty theft happened. We follow a young teacher with a lot of enthusiasm and idealism, trying to be the best that she can for her class. Then there are some accusations based on racial bias, obviously, which she despises, but follows along being the „junior“ faculty. Nevertheless, she sets up an (illegal) trap, and that is where everything spirals down. Despite her good intentions, things are getting really ugly, where she definitely didn’t want to go, underestimating the consequences of her actions. Great story and acting (the lead character, Oskar, Lukas, and Tom in particular), and claustrophobic cinematography. The ending is inconclusive in many ways and leaves a lot of question marks, but you can imply a lot by deduction. Well deserved Oscar nomination.