A Teacher

Step 1: Turn on any Lifetime movie with "Teacher" or "Student" in the title. Step 2: Start watching around the 15 minute mark. Step 3: Turn it off 20 minutes before the ending. You have now seen "A Teacher". No character development, no resolution. Not worth the time.

HORRIBLE!! Horrible acting, Horrible Script, Horrible Plot! I ALWAYS check ratings before I watch a movie, IMDb hasn't let me down yet! & Normally I don't waste my time if a movie isn't AT LEAST a 6, but I thought, "I do love a good student/teacher affair". Oh my lord was I wrong! I didn't even expect much coming into it as it was clearly low budget, so to disappoint my already low expectations. This was SOOOO very clearly actors, from the lack of chemistry, the robotic way they spoke, and the unrealism of it ALL, such as a bad ass high school student that sleeps with his teacher saying the phrase "Oh Fudge". I have been disappointed by a fair share of movies, but this has just made it to my top ten let downs. I wouldn't waste your time with it. What a shame.

I found this movie quite compelling. Like watching an accident about to happen, it's hard to avert your eyes. A teacher is having an affair with one of her students. The movie doesn't really set anything up for us; we join the drama as the affair is in full flight. The couple tryst secretly in his house when his parents are out, and in her place when her flatmate is out or simply in a car, despite the fact that no matter the claims of manufacturers for the performance of their vehicles, automobiles have never been designed for comfortable sex. It's an odd affair, but we sense that the teacher, Diana Watts, played by Lindsay Burdge, doesn't handle responsibility well – the responsibility of having a proper grown-up affair with its attendant commitment, and she certainly isn't facing up to her responsibilities as a teacher. We learn that she is also abandoning some responsibility regarding her mother – a pattern of behaviour emerges. Diana has such an attractive and grounded look that it comes as a surprise when the relationship unravels and so does she. It's a very believable performance and we feel her pain – self-induced though it is. The student, Eric Tull, played by Will Brittain, seems such a callow and somewhat fickle youth that his appeal to Diana obviously lay just outside the frame; she seems so much more mature and self-possessed. I think the real shock in the film comes in the role reversal about three quarters of the way through. In the beginning, Diana controls the pace of the affair, with Eric always left wanting more, but by the end he is over her, and she can't handle the rejection. The movie ends without a definite resolution, but we suspect that Diana's career in teaching is also about to end. I don't mind a movie that leaves things a bit obscure, and refuses to spoon feed the audience with obvious answers and situations – as long as it is done with style. "A Teacher" takes a fresh approach to a subject that has featured before; it gets you in, and doesn't overstay its welcome.

I saw this film at Film Fest Ghent (Belgium) 2013. Though announced on the festival website as a "character study", the first 45 minutes were nothing but repeats of the same sex-riddled meetings, each time in different settings and varied locations, but always at places where no one could see them together. We had to wait for a badly needed turning event, which came only after 45 minutes, a long overdue moment for the teacher to start realizing which risks she was taking. She immediately decided to put their regular meetings on hold, which seemed to be taken seriously by both for a while. Suddenly, however, she cannot resist the urge (we thought that only men think about sex many times a day), she arranges a new secret bed-meeting. For some unclear reason she suddenly breaks it off halfway, and he leaves the house without much ado. After only a very short while she rushes after him, parks near his house (where also his parents live), and desperately tries to phone and text him, and finally walks towards his house. It has all the looks of stalking. We see the boy's father interfere, but no actual confrontation. The film ends with her all alone in a motel room, where a voice mail from her school director tells her about a "situation". Apparently, the cat is out of the bag, but this is where the story ends. All in all, the plot had much more opportunities than the script did use effectively. As it is presented to us now, it offers not that much new about the issue, being rehashed many times before in similar or other settings. I could have inferred all this from the 75 minutes running time, indeed not very much for a "character study". We also have no idea what it is that attracts them to each other, apart from the apparent sex. The audience award ranked this movie a lowly 71th place out of 83.

I am not sure where the bad reviews come from unless they are from people upset with the subject matter. It is Hollywood people get over it. If people voted on movies based on moral compass than many would get a 4/10. The Hot teacher thing is a double standard. This kid is a senior, 17+ which is the age of consent in many states. Let's not dwell on the possible criminal element of the movie. I don't know of any 17 year old horny males that would feel violated by a hot young female teacher. NONE. OK so enough of that. These 2 have a hot fling. Obviously if anyone finds out about it her career would be over. He seems mature for his age and I thought the acting was well done and these 2 actors did a great job of pretending to be into each other. Things start to go a little astray when she realizes she is really infatuated with this kid. I thought the film and story was beautiful and artistically well done. The dialogue was real and I understand much of it was improvised. It is short only about 1hr 15 min but it is worth a watch.

I watched this because I recently got into the new TV series on Hulu of the same name. That series is engaging, makes you care about the characters, and actually delivers some important messages on grooming. This movie does none of that. There is absolutely no build-up or character development whatsoever. Like seriously, an unseasoned chicken leg at Susan's backyard barbecue has more flavor than these characters. I think it tries to give you the whole "predatory teacher" message, but it kind of just gets jumbled up in weird sex scenes, unnecessary family drama, and unexplained breakdowns. Also, the soundtrack at the beginning is one of the most horrendous things I've ever heard. I only gave it two stars instead of one because the scenes have some parallels to the TV show, which just made me appreciate how much better the show is. Anyway, don't waste your time.

Seeing this movie was a terrible, excruciating experience, but since I'm very hopeful and optimistic person, I watched it all the way through, hoping until the very end it's just about to provide something. Anything. It didn't. This completely failed as a showcase of character study. If anything, it's a perfect study of how movies should not be made. Ever! First of all, the story practically didn't have any development. The teacher-student relationship is a given thing from the get go and the only observation you can safely make is that she's a lot into him, but his motivation is completely ignored. Is it flattering for him? Does he prefer older girls? Is he happy? Is it only physical/fun for him? Temporary, even? Well, I have nothing against unorthodox film-making, but just because a film aspires to be fancy-shmancy artsy-fartsy all-independent, it may not - and doesn't - serve an excuse for boring the audience to sleep with a completely flat story and shortage of content. In fact, this feels like a shopping spree with empty shopping cart leaving past cash-desk. Boo-hoo, an end of a terrible ride. Finally!

We don't get to know the characters in this film. Hannah Fidell gives us no back story and no resolution. If you feel as nervous about the epidemic of teacher-student sexual abuse as I do, "A Teacher" won't leave you feeling any better. "A Teacher" is not the cheap outrage movie I thought it might be. It is not full of raunchy sex. There is no violence to. The director attempted a psychological treatment of the perpetrator. She succeeds, but she doesn't surprise me. Lindsay Burdge plays Diana Watts, a 30-ish high school English teacher with a lost lamb demeanor and a family crisis she is trying to avoid. Diana is not the Pam Smart sultry seductress with wicked intentions. She girl-next-door attractive, but she is depressed. I empathized. I wanted to help her find her way. Diana has roommates and friends who ask her out to parties where she has the opportunity to meet guys, but she's so insecure she cannot really connect with her peers. Diana's ex-husband and her brother try to get her attention about issues in the family, but Diana is too confused deal with them. How did a nice girl like Diana end up with that creep? Hidell leaves it up to us to guess. Will Brittain plays Eric Tull, a hot high school jock from a rich family. Eric is the dominant one in the relationship. Eric decides he is going to take Diana to his father's ranch. Eric decides when they are going to have sex. The sex depicted is not explicit, but Hidell makes it plain it is joyless for Diana. Eric is a bonehead. He doesn't read when Diana is feeling sad an anxious. He doesn't care. Eric's job is stud service. He could get any girl in school he wanted. It seems he thinks Diana should be grateful to HIM for a quickie in the parking lot! Eric comes across as a bit old for high school. This often happens when directors cast 25-year-old hunks to play high school students. However, Hidell does a deft job in show us how Eric is not quite a man yet. Diana isn't able to convey to Eric the high risk of their relationship. Eric is not able to see the situation as an adult and exercise good judgment. He's just an over privileged Texas boy playing with daddy's toys and diddling his English teacher. I wanted to see something bad happen to Eric. I wanted to see something good happen to Diana. I wanted a comforting answer as to why so many pretty, young teachers have sex with their students. However, Hidell does't just come out and give me what I want. Apart from awkward camera work and the stop-and-go jumpiness from one seen to the next, Hidell does a good job with what she has. She doesn't try to emulate the Hollywood blockbusters. She doesn't make her actors punch above their weight, which steers the film away from b-movie movie ham. I felt voyeuristic. It might have been me and my camera following Diana around. The absence of backstory or subplots gave me an undiluted taste of a perilous episode in Diana Watts' life. The drawback of Hidell's cinema vérité is I found no redemption for Eric. I just hated him. However, Eric is the victim. Not Diana. Diana is the adult. Diana is the one breaking her contract, lying to her employers, and eroding society's trust. Yet, Hidell is telling me I must empathize with Diana, and I do. Perhaps Hidell is saving the tears of Eric for "A Teacher II."

The production company, the screenwriter and anybody else who approved this meaningless piece of garbage should be barred from the movie industry. I am that serious! This is beyond ridiculous. Very few movies made me angry this much I am warning you, do not watch this movie if you don't want to feel sorry for wasting 90 minutes of your life when the movie ends. There's absolutely zero character development. Nada. Zilch. Story does not progress at all. Actually, there is no story. The characters are extremely boring, and all there's to it is a little bit of skin here and there with the most absurd and ridiculous sound track. It is unbelievable how trashy the score is. I would get it if this was a thriller or a horror movie but hearing the music while a couple is having... makes you say what the...? Do yourself a favor. Do not even think about watching this crap. Trust me, you will be glad you didn't.

I waited the whole thing through to see if the plot would develop any depth..... and then it ended. This was a terrible terrible movie. So extremely boring. You never even got to know ANY of the characters. Ugh so bland! I love movies and I know that there lies some type of beauty in each of them, even if it is not my cup of tea, but this one. Wow. Can I ever get that 1hr plus time back? Yes there is room for growth, but this movie has been produced, we can't go back in time. I am surprised Netflix took this one on. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I know some will beg to differ, but holy cow don't waste your time!