Release Date: September 6, 2013 (limited)
Currently playing on VOD platforms
Director: Hannah Fidell
MPAA Rating: NR
Film Pulse Score: 6.5/10
Clocking in at a mere 75 minutes, Hannah Fidell’s feature debut, A Teacher, gives us a small glimpse into the life of a young teacher having a scandalous affair with a student. The film begins after the two have already established their relationship, and provides only a sliver how their lives are unfolding. While what we do get is extremely well made and intriguing, there just isn’t enough here to really latch onto the characters or the story.
Lindsay Burdge plays Diana, a troubled teacher who is one second succumbing to her infatuation with the student, played by Will Brittain, and the next attempting to distance herself from the situation altogether. After the relationship ends, Diana slowly loses control of her emotions and begins down a path of erratic behavior that puts her in danger to being caught.
The concept of a teacher sleeping with a student is nothing new in film, however the tone and structure of Fidell’s story provides a unique take on something that probably happens a lot more than we think. There’s no awkward first date, no dramatic court room scene, and nothing that would even remotely resemble something that would appear on the Lifetime network. Rather than a story about a forbidden love between two people, it instead focuses on the psyche of the characters themselves. It’s a harsh, realistic, and ultimately difficult look at what a situation like this can do to a person.
Fidell supports this tone with plenty of low-light shots complimented by a mostly bleak series of locations, with the exception of one, which proves to be the turning point in the film. The camerawork keeps everything close and intimate, however many of the shots feel intentionally cold, like showing the back of Diana’s head as she walks down the school’s hall.
All of these elements, including the haunting score by Brian McOmber make up a solid indie, however the film feels seriously lacking in the area of development. There’s simply not enough here to really become enthralled in either the story or the character of Diana. We’re seeing such a small portion of her life that there’s never really a sense of any sort of arc or consequence to her actions. Things are implied, however what we see on film amounts to little more than a series of vignettes regarding a relationship that went south. For a film so astute in its focus, it simply didn’t go deep enough into the subject matter.
A Teacher is a film heavy in concept, yet light in story. The confident directing and superb performance by Lindsay Burdge help elevate it above most similar indies, however much like Diana, most will come away from this film longing for more after it’s all over.
