The Teachers’ Lounge, 2023.
Directed by Ilker Çatak.
Starring Leonie Benesch, Leonard Stettnisch, Eva Löbau, Michael Klammer, and Rafael Stachowiak.
SYNOPSIS:
When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.
Sometimes the tensest dramas can come from everyday life, be it the heat of the kitchen in Boiling Point or as is the case in Ilker Çatak’s latest film, a school, specifically the titular teachers lounge. Since premiering at the Berlin Film Festival in 2023, it has earned stellar reviews and a nomination for Best International Film at the Oscars. We follow idealistic teacher Carla Nowak, who has a troublesome 7th Grade class who are unruly with accusations of theft among the class and a lack of respect for the staff or among the students themselves.
What compounds an already difficult situation is a theft in the staff’s private area. Carla takes matters into her own hands, secretly recording the area to see if she can spot the culprit. What starts out as an act of goodwill quickly escalates into something troublesome for all involved and a major scandal. The staff are unhappy about secretly being recorded and there is friction between Carla and the accused party who happens to be the mother of a student in her class.
Leonie Benesch is sublime, showing Carla’s frustration firstly at an unruly class she is unable to control and secondly at capturing her angst at how the situation has unravelled. With Carla being in so many scenes, the film rests on her performance and her gradual unravelling which Benesch is more than up to as her initially energetic outward appearance begins to disintegrate.
Çatak builds an uncomfortable cauldron threatening to bubble over at any point, as tense as many thrillers. The action exclusively taking place within the school lends it an almost prison-like, oppressive feel, fuelling the unruly atmosphere. It never feels boring and is a gripping watch throughout as we wait for the next explosive twist. At 100 minutes there is never a dull moment.
It is a clever social commentary on institutional racism with many of those accused initially of theft from minority backgrounds and shunned by fellow students. It also shows institutional hypocrisy with Carla having to take matters into her own hands but being vilified for finding the truth.
The Teachers’ Lounge is a singular, thrilling film with a star-making central performance. It is a unique take on a school centred film and utterly engrossing from first frame to last, ratcheting up the tension to almost unbearable levels. If other film’s this awards cycle have earned more praise like Anatomy of a Fall or The Zone of Interest, that shouldn’t deflect from this film’s qualities and hopefully it can reach as wide an audience as possible.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Connor
