“The Penguin Lessons” Proves Poignant

The Penguin Lessons (Peter Cattaneo, 2024) 3½ out of 5 stars

In this current era of rising and established dictators, it behooves each and every one of us to study history as a reminder of what has come before and how folks have chosen, or chosen not to, fight back. The thing about fascism is that it never ceases to demand acquiescence: give in on one issue and you can expect myriad more to come your way. You must stand up lest you spend your life sitting down.

In The Penguin Lessons, the new film from director Peter Cattaneo (Military Wives), the time and place is 1976 Argentina, at the start of that country’s military junta. Steve Coogan (The Lost King) plays Tom Michell (whose eponymous 2016 memoir serves as inspiration), an itinerant English school teacher working his way through various jobs in South America. Upon arriving at an elite boarding school for boys in the Buenos Aires suburbs, he has no great expectations other than to get by. Perhaps, while on break, he might even get laid.

But fate has other plans, courtesy both of the natural world and the chaotic political situation. Walking through the school’s gates for the first time, he witnesses a maintenance worker removing anti-government graffiti and hears a nearby explosion. Those are harbingers of worse to come, though change won’t truly be foisted upon him until he meets the titular bird.

This happens after he and a Finnish colleague (Björn Gustafsson, Becoming Astrid) travel to neighboring Uruguay after the school briefly closes because of the unrest. Tom hopes to meet an attractive woman with whom to spend the night, though his friend’s awkwardness gets in the way. Still, he finally manages to head off with a prospective partner, only to discover, walking on the beach, a slew of dead Magellanic penguinscovered in oil from a tanker spill. One of them is still moving and so, urged by his date, he brings the animal back to the hotel. After a cleaning, the penguin improves.

One sweetly comic turn after another eventually leads to Tom, on his own, penguin in hand (or tote bag, as it goes), crossing the border and infiltrating his unlikely cargo into the school, despite a prohibition against pets mentioned earlier by the headmaster (Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes). Soon, Juan Salvador (as Tom’s students name the penguin) becomes a secret fixture at the school, beloved by all. It seems improbable, yet, as presented here, it’s certainly adorable.

That’s just half the story. Cattaneo and screenwriter Jeff Pope (Stan & Ollie) use the above as a way into an examination of human behavior in the face of repression. Tom befriends the school’s housekeeper, Maria (Vivian El Jaber, Expiration Date), and her granddaughter, Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio, Society of the Snow), both of whom fall in love with Juan Salvador, helping Tom feed and care for him. Unfortunately, Sofia, who is part of the resistance, is soon arrested and disappeared by local authorities.

Tom initially tries to keep himself safe, but before long his conscience gets the better of him, partly because of his own personal history (which we learn by the end), and partly thanks to Juan Salvador, who has brought out a better side of him. Uncharacteristically, Tom sticks his neck out. There are consequences, but at least he has a chance to redeem himself in his own eyes.

The Penguin Lessons proves as effective in its big emotional moments as it does in the quirkier comedy bits (Coogan’s specialty). There are some narrative missteps, such as centering a British man in Argentinian trauma, but the movie’s dramatic heart nevertheless beats mostly true. Combining the penguin’s rescue journey with such horrific events works in surprising ways. Flaws and all, the teachable moments resonate long afterwards.

Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Christopher Llewellyn Reed is a film critic, filmmaker, and educator, as well as Film Festival Today's Editor. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.