Directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty (1997); The Rocker (2008); Military Wives (2019)) and starring Steve Coogan (Philomena (2013); Stan and Ollie (2018); The Lost King (2022)), Björn Gustafsson (Spy (2015); People of Earth (tv series, 2016-17)), Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes (2019); Tomorrow Never Dies (1997); The Thursday Murder Club (2025); Save the Cinema (2022)), Vivian El Jaber (Educando a Nina (tv series, 2016-2025)) and Alfonsina Carrocio (Society of the Snow (2023); Nina & Emma (2023)).
Drama; 111 mins; 6+
Inspired by actual events and based on the book of the same name by Tom Michell, this engaging comedy drama stars Steve Coogan as Tom, an English teacher who goes to work in an exclusive boys boarding school, St George's, led by old-fashioned Headmaster Buckle (Jonathan Pryce) in a divided Argentina in 1976.
He has worked his way down Latin America and has become disillusioned; slowly his back story is revealed which shows he is still grieving from the death of his daughter a number of years earlier.
With the country on the eve of a political revolution and military coup that brought down Isabel Peron, he takes a trip to nearby Uruguay with a fellow teacher Tapio (Björn Gustafsson) who is not as socially outgoing as Tom. After a night dancing at a club, he is enjoying a dawn stroll on a beach with his dancing partner and they come across a number of penguins who had been caught in an oil spill: eager to impress, he rescues the one penguin still alive. He nurses it back to health, but the penguin is determined to stay by his side, so he brings it back to the school.
There, he befriends the cleaners Maria (Vivian El Jaber) and her grand daughter Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio) who discover the penguin and help care for it. Later he brings it into class, in spite of pets being against the rules, and sees that it helps transform both the pupils and his own life.
A delightful and heartfelt family film ideal for the holiday season, with a fascinating insight into the political revolution and its impact on many people at the school.
Currently screening in Luxembourg at Ciné Utopia and CiNextDoor.
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