Rating: PG-13 | Runtime: 110 minutes
Release Date: March 28th, 2025 (USA)
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Director(s): Peter Cattaneo
Writer(s): Jeff Pope / Tom Michell (book)

I like my balls round.

“The Grinch’s heart grew three sizes that day” is all I could think when Tom Michell (Steve Coogan) finally grows a spine and confronts the fascist who disappeared the granddaughter (Alfonsina Carrocio’s Sophia) of a janitorial “contractor” at the school in which he worked. This Brit, who’d been teaching English all across South America as a means to avoid the pain in his heart, was hired precisely because he’d become apathetic through tragedy. A coup was brewing to ignite what’s been dubbed “The Dirty War” and headmaster “Timbuck” (Jonathan Pryce) wanted to ensure none of his teachers threatened the safety of his wards—children of well-to-do and well-connected parents. Keep your head down, don’t bother trying too hard, and survive the semester.

As Peter Cattaneo’s The Penguin Lessons (adapted by Jeff Pope from Michell’s own memoirs) tells it, this Grinch was fine looking the other way. When his students fooled around and paid little attention to his lesson, he merely soldiered through in a dull monotone to be able to tell himself he did his job if only they cared enough to listen. He slept on a park bench when forced to coach rugby. He took the week-long uncertainty of a nation’s transition into a military junta as an excuse to travel to Uruguay and get laid. And when Sophia was taken just seconds after talking to him on the street, he lowered his eyes and pretended he didn’t hear her screaming his name to help her.

That’s where Juan Salvador comes in. Saved from an oil slick to impress a woman, Tom finds himself unable to shed his new black and white shadow. He tries throwing the penguin into the sea. Tries leaving him in his hotel room to make the staff deal with his removal. He even intentionally allows himself to be detained at customs in the hopes they’ll refuse the animal entry into Argentina upon his return. But no one else wants the responsibility either. Whether locals or police, they all act like doting grandparents—spoiling the bird to satisfy their own fascination before forcing Tom to take it away, regardless of legality, and keep its fate out of their own hands.

Well, the penguin becomes Michell’s little Cindy-Lou Who. He’s a sounding board. A mirror. A reminder of the empathy all humans should let drive them instead of the fear that often takes its place. Tom’s not alone in using him in these roles either. Sophia’s grandmother talks to Juan Salvador like a therapist. Tom’s fellow teacher (Björn Gustafsson) and even, inexplicably, Timbuck do the same. With so much political turmoil and danger looming, having someone to listen without the worry of betrayal becomes a godsend. Juan Salvador also diffuses the animosity brewing in Tom’s English class. His presence holds their attention and Michell’s gradual thawing to teach about community, compassion, and freedom gets them to shed the indoctrination of their parents.

It’s an inspiring story on all fronts. Yes, Tom reclaiming his voice and courage is paramount, but we’re also watching distracted students find focus and a cowardly principal rediscover the real power his position affords. I don’t necessarily love the exploitative nature of the Sophia subplot allowing us to applaud aristocrats for daring to do the right thing once in their privileged lives (it’s very copaganda-adjacent since the fishmonger never returns and the end credit text tells us 30,000 “Disappeared” remain unaccounted for to this day), but I get the need for a “win” to keep the vibes hopeful in what’s billed as a feel-good true life tale of bravery. Considering what’s happening in our world—specifically America with its own broad and illegal renditions—it proves performatively quaint.

That’s the mission, though. Say something, but not too much. It’s Michell’s progression in a nutshell too. Yes, he stands tall and risks arrest. Yes, his actions snowball into potentially saving a young woman’s life. But did he truly cause change? Did those students grow up to reject their parents’ politics and return their country to democracy? Doubtful. These types of films generally show how the teacher betters the students’ lives, not how the students are ancillary to the teacher remembering that refusing to look away does matter. Sure, it won’t solve whatever issue you stood up for in the moment, but it will keep reminding people that fear is the point. The regime will get away with it, but you didn’t blindly let them without a fight. This lesson isn’t for those kids, though. It’s for us.

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BABA/RICHARD the penguins as Juan Salvador, STEVE COOGAN as Tom Michel in THE PENGUIN LESSONS; Image: Lucia Faraig Ferrando. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.