User reviews

Greetings again from the darkness. The intensity and stress of everyday life and of everyday people are on full display in this film from writer-director Iler Catak and co-writer Johannes Duncker. They have brilliantly crafted a terrific suspense thriller from the most unexpected setting and group of characters ... a junior high school and the faculty and students.

Teacher Carla Nowak (Leone Benesch, THE WHITE RIBBON, "Babylon Berlin") is new to the school, originally hailing from Poland. She's the type of teacher who motivates students by having them think creatively and from different perspectives. We can immediately tell she's as idealistic as she is passionate about her profession. When one of her students is accused of stealing money, she's at odds with school principal Dr Bohm (Anne-Kathrin Gummich) on the interrogation of students, as well as the conference with the accused student's parents.

It turns out there is quite an epidemic of theft and dishonesty at the school, and it extends to the titular teachers' lounge where Carla herself witnesses an occurrence. Carla decides to set a trap using her laptop's camera and her unattended wallet. When the camera 'catches' the sleeve of an unusual blouse print, Carla confronts the 'obvious' culprit, school administrator Ms. Kuhn (Eva Lobau), who adamantly denies the accusation. Further complicating matters, Carla shows the video to Dr Bohm, who promptly suspends Ms. Kuhn, who also happens to be the mother of Carla's favorite student, Oskar (Leonard Stettnisch).

Carla's best intentions seem to backfire at every turn. She believes in right and wrong, and also in forgiveness and second chances (especially for kids). Her anxiety heightens at each misstep, whether by her, the administration, or students. Soon, even Oskar is lashing out and threatening her, despite Carla's attempt to shield him. Many find Carla's use of the laptop camera more offensive than the actual theft, and the student newspaper journalists seize on this opportunity to incite rebellion and independence.

Much of what we witness on screen is the result of actions taken out of our sightline - we are left to make assumptions right alongside Carla. Film Editor Gesa Jager deserves special recognition for keeping us just a bit off balance. Emptying the teacher's coffee fund, cheating on a test, defying the truth ... all of these (and more) actions are used by filmmaker Catak in delivering a snapshot of a society where we no longer trust one another. Morality, integrity, misplaced concern, racism, classism ... these all play a role here in delivering the message. Leone Benesch is exceptional in the lead role, and Eva Lobau goes full throttle in her attempts to show she was wronged. It's a Rubik's Cube that serves up our final message, as well as providing some hope that good intentions do sometimes pay off. Yesterday, it was announced that the film has been Oscar nominated for Best International Feature Film. A well-deserved honor.

Opens in theaters on January 26, 2024.

It was never easy to be a good teacher, but it's even harder today with virtually everyone having a political agenda. A young teacher has a series of thefts in her class. She reports it to the administration, but they only make things worse. She discreetly tries to get to the bottom of it herself, only to make things still worse. Lots of fingers are pointed in a lot of different directions. Anyone who has ever been falsely accused will find this a very disturbing movie. It is so well acted that it seems like a documentary, rather than fiction. This film and AMERICAN FICTION both show what horrible little prigs today's young people have been turned into. They are basically good and want to do the right thing, but they know in their heart of hearts that they are morally superior. This movie made me glad that I am not a teacher today. This is a rivetingly suspenseful movie that is quite harrowing at times. It asks some disturbing questions and doesn't provide easy answers. This is easily one of the year's best films in a year of strong contenders. This is a German film in the German language, but it could just as easily take place anywhere in the Western world. This is a movie that thinking people can appreciate.

I am a high school teacher, and this movie made me reflect on the educator's place in school. The film takes me to Plato's Republic, where it presents the dilemma "it is better to be than to appear virtuous." The protagonist leads us to moments of anguish with her quest for justice, honesty, and virtue in an environment governed by conflicting and often cruel moral issues. Actress Leonie Benesch's performance is confident, brilliantly conveying the emotions experienced by the character. For now, I consider "Das Lehrerzimmer" a real contender to win the award for Best Foreign Film in 2024; it's my choice.

I've always said being a teacher would be the worst job on Earth. I'm not sure if it was the point of 'The Teachers' Lounge' to prove my theory right, but it certainly did that. This was nightmare fuel and we see it all from the point of view of the teacher. I lost count of how many times I said out loud, "just quit and move to the other side of the country and become a farmer" (or something to that effect).

This film had no business being as captivating as it was. I was hooked on every word and needed to know what direction it was going to go in next. It's again proof that if you have good dialogue and an interesting story, action sequences of any kind are completely unnecessary for a film to be interesting.

I haven't watched many German films, but if this is an indication of their quality then I would happily watch more. 9/10.

I am teacher. I saw this admirable film only from this perspective, admiring its high realism, recognizing ordinary, almost every day crisis, understanding the power , bigger and bigger , decade by decade, of students , their cruelty - not different by the characters of William Golding in The Lord of Flies.

I real loved the performance of Leonie Benesch. I appreciated the fair crafted tension. And the end , I believe, is pure great.

The story - chains of a clash. A terrible one because it is between values, truths, the victim being the honesty, noble intentions, the spirit of dedication and justice of a young teacher, devouted, maybe in too high measure, to her job.

The young actors are just fantastic.

At the end, the hope than the Oscar for Best International Feature Film goes to Das Lehrerzimmer.

Well, I watched this movie last week on theathre and first of all I really really hate open ending stories! I want some answers but I don't want my own. You know the story and I will not give spoiler. Main character teacher Carla was wonderful. Really good characterizations in the movie. Actually everybody was perfect. When I was watching movie, I thought a little politics and governments, also my country problems ( and others) because this movie was like small version of that too. For me, who has power of manipulation, always win. Story was all about that. It is a good movie and highly recommend to watch. In my opinion no need to go for cinema, kind of movie that suitable watch at home.

Being German, i actually really dislike most of my nation's dramas, mostly for their bleak depiction of nearly everything. An unrewarding depression mood, intertwined with bursts of out-of-place screams and violence. But this movie hit different - in the most frustatingly positive ways possible.

The central character is the overambitious teacher Carla Novak who began to teach at a German highschool, being silently confronted and appalled by the zero tolerance politics of the institution. The plot revolves around the dark grey areas of such a strict set of rules, as a series of thefts begin to disturb the carefully constructed but fragile peace. Racial profiling. Anauthorized searches. Between all of this stands our protagonist. And then she seemingly finds the culprit... with even more consequences she herself could not have imagined.

First of all - nearly every character can be seen as unlikeable in a certain way at the end of the movie, even Carla. Students. Teachers. Parents. Everyone hits different. Everybody get's the chance to shine in a negative light. And different ideals and opinions clash. That's a strange achievement. And it's strangely a good one.

The actors are playing their parts so well and natural. Especially the dynamic between lead Leonie Benesch's character and Leonards Stettnisch's Oskar is a stand-out. At some points there are not even words needed - just some uncomfortable staring contests.

The movie sticks close to the people but is cold trough its use of muted blue-white colors and beautifully captured through a claustrophobic 4:3 lens. The music is simple and effective with a minimalistic silence, a dissonance for an overly stressful confrontation and pompous score for the outro.

Ambition, failings and social dynamics are going hand in hand. They substitute the topic of theft quite fast through the mid point of the movie. Who does support the other one's believes and who is there to challenge them? Is everything well-meant actually good?

And we get an open end. Maybe to open. No big scale thriumph over the other. No real culprit and no real solution. Just an empty school. An empty microcosm that was inhabited by themes of communicational misteps, distrust, mobbing, fake personalities, moral ambiguity, ... you name it.

You may be leaving the cinema with different opinions and ideas. And that's the best thing a movie can achieve. Even if it isn't going to satisfy all movie goers

Prepare for school. Watch it. Be frustrated.

If you are a logical person you won't like the movie because it doesn't have an ending, explanation or closure.

It follows the basic formula of a festival film:

• Have an irrational character act irrationally
• Put some depression into the main character
• Create doubts
• Don't explain anything, leave it to the viewers

This movie follows the formula step by step. The main character (a teacher) deals with a theft situation in the school. Some people involved act irrationally. The teacher is having troubles dealing with the situation.

The movie director deliberately sprinkles doubts and leaves them there. He chooses to focus on the teacher's feeling and actions. So he doesn't care about explaining anything. Just shows us how the teacher is trying to coup with all the drama. That's it.

I don't like it when writers/directors choose the easy road and leave things in the air. They can do both; show us the emotional journeys of the characters and still find a way for a closure.

Modern German cinema haven't been on my radar as while there are a few good German flicks coming around time to time, I haven't been fully wowed by them for some time. I had no idea what to expect going into this movie but this movie was frustrating but in a good way.

It's an interesting character study that explores themes of racial profiling, unauthorized searches, and the school system. Throughout, the camerawork use of 4:3 lens felt purposeful to surround the settings and tone and the direction is pretty strong. The directing, setting, sound designs and pacing help to capture the uncomfortable and intense atmosphere that is being surrounded around the environment and within the characters and the movie does a really good work on capturing the essence.

The characters can be frustrating and unlikeable to an extent but instead of being unbearable, the portrayal of the unlikeable and frustrating characters felt purposeful because of the themes and writing concepts that were explored. Not often where movies are able to have many characters unlikeable, yet, managed to still be emotionally investing and engaging. All of the performances are amazing especially the lead performance from Leonie Benesch as Benesch is absolutely amazing. Even the child actors are great as well.

Many of the social dynamics were well-explored within the simple setting, the pacing is great, and there are some good dialogue moments that genuinely helps to build the intense situations and realism it portrays. There are a few issues I had with the movie which is that I felt certain dialogue moments from the child performances felt a little too fake or staged and there are certain choices I thought could have been approached differently.

Overall, a fascinating and frustrating movie.

A special surrealism runs through the film because of the often radical behavior of the school towards the students. I often even had to think of Die Welle or 1984. In my opinion, the film fails to be a truly realistic study of the school environment.

The film generally aims for a very realistic production, almost documentary-like, which also makes it possible to show a (mostly) believable relationship between teacher and student, but does not manage to realistically portray the teachers and how they interact with each other. The dialogue is mostly so stilted and feels so fake, and the behavior of individual teachers is so naive and simple-minded that it was very difficult for me to empathize with the individual characters and especially with the main character. I also asked myself whether one should actually find the main character likeable, should exactly the opposite be the case, or should she only move in gray areas. I found you to be mostly the former. In general, you don't learn anything at all about the characters, what they are like, what experiences they may have had with students before, and how these experiences have shaped them. But since the dialogues are so flat and most of the scenes don't have the intensity that the film probably assumes they have, it quickly became very tiring and I had to smile about many of the discussions between the teachers because I often didn't even notice them seriouscould take.

The film definitely has its moments, especially in scenes that are left for a long time, which really have an impact. This very cold and oppressive atmosphere also worked very well. In some places the film also resembles a horror film (e.g. When the teachergoes to the school newspaper and is interviewed). Then, unfortunately, you are taken back by the unrealistic behavior of the - especially older - students, which seems extremely fake and you ask yourself, would students really talk to a teacher like that, would they even dare to have such a conversation?

And it is precisely this naive behavior and the lack of insight into the students and teachers that simply destroys the film for me, especially because this behavior leads to other key points later in the film and thus advances the story.

In short, it definitely has its moments, builds a good atmosphere, is well acted, but ultimately it's too bold and too simple for me.

No pun intended - I am really hard on German dramas at times. Because I understand the language I may be able to detect flaws and bad acting - at least what I would call bad acting. Now let's not even go that direction, because this movie blew my mind. Yes I too can learn a or my lesson! This had me on the edge of my seat at times ... and the tension was ... you could feel it.

The direction, the acting, the cinematography, the sound design, the set and costumes ... this is really as good as I heard it was. And I can say that it will be in my top 20 movies of the year for sure! Yes I can say that at this point in time - there is no chance I will watch 20 other movies that are all better than this ... just not happening.

The title is giving a bit away, but actually not much. You know this plays at a school and that teachers are the main theme here ... obviously pupils will be a subject too ... more than one that is. And then you have ... well once something is set into motion ... as the Germans would say: wenn der Stein ins Rollen kommt ... which means the same thing as what was set in motion can't be stopped ... or does it? It is going to be hard for sure - and more than one players have to help make it happen.

Doing the right thing is not always the way to go. As the saying goes "no good deed goes unpunished" ... not being able to say what she thinks most of the time, restrictions and trying to connect both teacher world and student world kind of are tearing our main character apart ... a movie that is so rich and has so many things to discover about it ... I can't praise it enough ... let's lift it up in the air ... and with this I'll say goodbye and you can make up your own mind ...

Movie introduces us to a newcomer who's looked at with perspectives pushed to towards uncertainty, if this sounds familiar this will remind many how things changed in work lives gradually but with certainty, movie shows the struggle of a new appointee trying not to compromise morals that's a beautiful struggle to witness. And with careful performances of the cast movie is being able to question the misplaced formalities making this short movie a sputtering thriller. Great cinematography and music. A treat of a story that would make your heart full. A unique movie with some important messages. Enjoy !

I honestly was not expecting to watch this German film that came out in this year in 2023, but I wanted to give it a chance, and the premise seemed simple enough; after watching the film, I will say that it is not for everyone, and that this movie does take its time when going over certain elements that are part of the main premise. The German film The Teachers' Lounge (2023) has good performances, nice looking cinematography, and a premise involving theft at a school that, when you are trying to be on the main character's side, you can get invested enough so you want to know what happens next; I was on the side of the main teacher, but also, it brings you on either side with it being the main character's ideals and the school system.

All the performances from the actors are well done, especially the main character played by German actor Leonie Benesch, the character's name being Carla Nowak; she is a good teacher, and you can understand her choices when she is instructing the kids in her class, but once the theft that has been occurring affects her, you go back and forth wanting to be on board with her opinion on the situation and wondering about how the school system works. The kids in the class start affecting her when it comes to a certain accusation that takes place, and I like how her breaking from things she thought was the right thing to do affects her and her way of looking at the school system when comes to dealing with issues like this.

This film did not have much of an antagonist, but there are people who will act in a negative way, which leads to the main teacher trying to make amends with a kid and his parent, leading to difficult confrontations and ways to resolve the problem; eventually leading to the ending where it was hard to tell if things were resolved, but there were details that hinted at it. The cinematography was well shot, and the way the movie was executed was well done, but it takes its time; the movie might seem slow to some people who watch this, but I would say it gives build up to what might happen next in the plot because it includes paying attention to little details it might add, and question if the main character is doing the right thing.

Once again, this movie is not for everyone; but the German film The Teachers' Lounge (2023) is a well-made film with well-done performances, good tension, good cinematography, and things to think about. All those positives are what made the movie work for me, but the ending was a bit difficult to understand, and there some things I would have like more of an explanation on; but other than that, this movie is not bad, and it is only worth a watch if you like films like this where it takes its time in executing the premise to build up tension. Not a movie I will watch again, but I will say it was good enough for me to recommend it.

A great film about an important topic. The film hardly leaves any time to breathe, the atmosphere is so cramped. The 4:3 format is so close to the action that you can literally feel the captivity of the leading actress Leonie Benesch, who plays brilliantly. We follow a teacher in her first job as she tries to do the right thing but can no longer uphold her own moral standards. How she gets further and further into a whirlpool.

A psychogram of a teacher who is under pressure and there seems to be no way out. Teachers don't have it easy and the film impressively shows a reflection of this incredible profession through acting, film and music.

This movie stressed me out!

It gave me PTSD from my time on a condo association board where every meeting devolved into shouting matches with no one hearing anyone else and people using discussions over mundane topics as an excuse to air personal grievances.

Leonie Benesch is giving one of the best performances of the year as a teacher who wants to right a wrong and tries to do so using what to her seems like factual evidence. But the movie is about how tenuous even things like facts are at times, and how prone people are to interpret facts through the lens of their own biases, prejudices, and sometimes just the desire to cause drama and stir up trouble.

Watching the events in this movie slowly spiral more and more out of control made me a sweaty mess.

Grade: A.

There are not many stories out there that encapsulate the inner functioning of an institution like school. The politics, the clash of ideals, the pressure from parents, it is an environment that has seldom been represented in any artistic form, let alone in a cinematic form, thus, I wholeheartedly admire the attempt, inspite of the final outcome failing to tick all the boxes I wished for.

While the drama is effective, the writing falls short of instituting the desired impact. Leaving vital pieces of the story to the audience's unruly interpretation. The insinuations themselves often appear contradictory, with particular moments denoting the convolution is pretty perceptible.

Although some valid pointers were raised that could (or should) initiate pertinent dialogue, the end result could not attain the highs it aspired for, it was nowhere near the brilliance it originally aimed for.

Saw this at the 2023 filmfestival Ghant (Belgium). Very tense experience. Ample opportunity to feel along with all protagonists, even with those I disagree with. I for myself changed positions with each new development. It is my favorite category of film, where one continuously wonders: "What should I have done in that situation??" Many unexpected turns of events, all within the realm of normal possibilities yet still unexpected hence surprising each time, while the problems escalate beyond control.

Maybe the right-wing suggestions against teacher Carla (with a Polish name) and fellow student Ali (with immigrant parents), in particular coming from one particular direct-hitting student, are a bit over the top and unnecessary to make a complete story, but I assume the filmmakers included it on purpose, as those opinions are not uncommon and there is no reason to hide these. Like in the real world outside school, such and similar "arguments" confuse every discussion and only widens the gap between people.

There is a varied set of teachers who each have a significant role in what happens. They think differently about several issues, but not really out of the ordinary. Of course, the parents are much more different and have their own role too, not always a positive one but I assume that reflects reality. Ditto for the students.

All in all, while nothing novel or unexpected is presented, we get a broad overview over common opinions involving dealing with small theft, racism, immigration, adolescent behavior, and last-but-not-least interactions between students, parents and teachers. Nothing we see here is unrealistic. Sufficiently complex to keep us involved and interested.

There's a spate of petty thefts going on in her junior school, so after a rather dubiously executed class search fails to deliver a culprit, the enthusiastic and maybe a little naive teacher "Miss Novak" (Leonie Benesch) sets a video trap to see if she can identify the culprit. She does, potentially, identify someone going through her pockets and headmaster "Böhm" (Anne-Katrin Gummich) now tries to deal with a scenario that rapidly spirals out of control and reveals an increasing degree of toxicity for not just this teacher, but for relationships at all levels throughout the school - as well as a fairly counter-productive environment of red-tape. We are soon facing a stand-off situation that borders on the criminal with some surprisingly potent battle lines soon drawn both inside and outside of the teacher's lounge. I had credibility issues with what happens now. It's not that the drama isn't well acted and tautly directed, indeed the young Leonard Stettnisch's portrayal of her student-cum-antagonist "Oskar" is really effective. It is just that too much of what occurs struck me as preposterous. Any procedures in place to protect teachers and pupils seems to gave been chucked under the dramatic bus and the absence of police or qualified investigative authorities here just didn't ring true as we made our way to a denouement that I felt rather underwhelmed. It's gripping, and well worth a watch - but plausible? Hmmm, I'm not so sure.

Great actors if they were supposed to play imbeciles.

But let's start at the beginning. The movie's main idea itself is pretty interesting. But if you're a teacher yourself or at least have visited a school in Germany in the last few years, be warned: this movie will be hard to watch because of the idiotic behaviour of basically all the grown ups. There is so much unrealistic stuff going on that it just drowns out the whole concept of the movie - which can be interpreted quite philosophically. I was hoping for something that tries to portrait real people but it's more of a very artificial conflict in a setting that resembles some smartass writer's idea of school life^^

A riveting story of morals, ideals and the price for being true to one's beliefs; that shakes and challenges the teacher-student-parents dynamics.

Leonie Benesch slays in her portrayal of the protagonist.

Good cinematography and direction, provided the entire movie takes place inside the school premises.

Liked how it just moves forward naturally without creating any unnecessary cliffhangers with out-of-box twists and stays true to it till the end without coming to any definite conclusions.

Privileged to have watched this in a film festival. This will probably go down as an underrated gem that will fly under the radar.

If German film The Teacher's Lounge is frustrating, it might be intentional. We are not made privy to anything the film's protagonist Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) doesn't know, which really helps to feel what it might be like to be in her shoes. Carla is a young teacher, who is not only an excellent educator, but also a genuinely good person, really empathetic and with a great sense of right and wrong. There's theft happening at the teacher's lounge. Theft is, obviously, wrong. Frisking 7th graders looking for dubious evidence in a desperate attempt to find the thief - that's kind of wrong too. But the right seems to be ever more elusive. The perpetrator, when caught pretty much red handed, is so good at playing a victim, that the noble Carla finds herself questioning her sanity. All her good intentions lead her deeper and deeper into her own proverbial hell. And the story feels like it goes beyond the titular lounge, beyond the school, becoming a reflection of a lot of what is happening in Western society, regardless of the country.