Although it remains largely faithful to the original, there's a fresh source of vitality to be found in Gyllenhaal's presence.

Maggie Gyllenhaal never disappoints, and that's certainly true in The Kindergarten Teacher, an understated character study with a lot to say but no easy answers.

[Colangelo] has planed away the story's hard edges and given us a very earnest translation of what should have been a highly provocative theme.

The Kindergarten Teacher is an emotional, intense, definitely dark and sometimes even disturbing journey whose story still remains partly unwritten, and this is the true genius of Colangelo's painfully accurate analysis of human behaviour.