As the star of movies likeSecretaryandSherrybaby, Maggie Gyllenhaal has long established herself as a master of offbeat characters with dangerous obsessions.
Her latest an educator who forms a disturbing attachment to her students prodigious talents takes center stage in the riveting trailer for Netflixs upcoming dramaThe Kindergarten Teacher.
Directed byLittle Accidentshelmer Sara Colangelo, the film follows Lisa (Gyllenhaal), who holds down a job instructing youngsters at a New York City school.
A struggling writer attempting to reconnect with her own artistic ambitions she put on hold years ago to raise a family, Lisas stagnant existence gets a jolt of electricity when she overhears one of her students, Jimmy, reciting an exquisitely wrought poem by heart.
After discovering from his caretaker that Jimmy composes his own work at random, Lisa begins claiming Jimmys work as her own particularly during weekly presentations at a poetry course taught by a charming professor (Gael Garcia Bernal).
From there, Lisa goes down a rabbit hole of idolization, contacting Jimmy outside school hours, staking out his home, stealing him away from a school playground, and ultimately throwing herself into a misguided plan to nurture Jimmy like a modern-day Mozart while shepherding his talents to a wider audience by publishing a book with his name on it.
