Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Maggie Gyllenhaal is Deranged In Remake of Israeli Thriller

I wouldn’t give an apple to this teacher.

Maggie Gyllenhaal brings every parent’s nightmare to life in the disturbing trailer for the upcoming Netflix film “The Kindergarten Teacher”.

Gyllenhaal plays a troubled educator who latches onto a kindergarten student upon listening to him stammer out brilliant poetry. She immediately pegs the little boy as “a young mozart” and becomes intoxicated with the idea of cultivating a prodigy in her kindergarten classroom. She is unwaveringly in her intent to transform and enrich his life — and she will not take no for an answer. She resolves to kidnap Jimmy, the target of her obsession.

“Talent is so fragile and so rare and our culture does everything to crush it,” Gyllenhaal says, breathily unhinged as she speaks about Jimmy’s artistry.

The Netflix movie is a remake of an Israeli thriller film written and directed by Nadav Lapid.

“The Kindergarten Teacher” will be available on Netflix on October 12.

Tamar Skydell is an intern at The Forward. You can contact her at [email protected]

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.