Teacher's Pet at least earns an A for effort

Luke Barnett and Michelle Torian in Teacher's Pet- Courtesy of Quiver Distribution

Writer/director Noam Kroll's Teacher's Pet doesn't exactly break any new ground, and it contains some major plot holes. That said, it's an entertaining watch and decent thriller that's worth a stream. The cast especially does the best with what their given, and at the very least, the movie receives participation points for some of the performances.

Teacher's Pet stars Michelle Torian as high school senior Clara. She's pushing hard to earn a scholarship to Yale and escape poverty. She lives with her foster parents, the generally supportive Sylvia, played by genre queen Barbara Crampton, and the abusive Jack (Kevin Makely). Not only does Clara have a rough home life, but she's bullied by her classmates. Her only friend is the stoner Eric (Hunter Romanillos). Despite his flaws, Eric at least listens to Clara and offers his support. The friendship eventually turns into a budding romance between the two outcasts.

Suddenly, Clara's English class is upended when the students learn that their teacher apparently killed himself. Their former instructor is replaced by Mr. Heller (Luke Barnett), who takes a creepy and obsessive interest in Clara, inviting her to be a teacher's assistant, in exchange for a five percent bump in her grade.

Mr. Heller checks all of the English teacher cliches. When he introduces himself to the class, he cites Walt Whitman's "Oh Captain, My Captain." He's also fond of Emily Dickinson and wears a tweed coat at least once or twice. Yet it's clear early on he's trying to pass himself off as something and someone he's not.

The movie's main flaw is that it has too many plot holes regarding Mr. Heller's actual identity. He kills people, yet we never actually learn much about his background and why he cares about Clara. At one point, he tells her he can relate to her because he, too, felt like an outcast in school. Is that sufficient reason for his actions, though?

Barbara Crampton as Sylvia in Teacher's Pet- Courtesy of Quiver Distribution

That said, despite the script's flaws, Barnett makes a cunning villain in this movie, and Torian turns in quite an earnest performance, too. Any scenes Barnett and Torian have together make this movie worth a watch. It's also a lot of fun watching Barnett's character become increasingly unhinged and murderous. Meanwhile Makely makes a good secondary villain, and Crampton is solid in any role. Here, she plays a loving and supporting foster mother, desperately trying to keep the peace at home.

Additionally, though Mr. Heller comes across as a cliched English teacher, the high school setting feels real and authentic. This is true of the dialogue and also Clara's role as the protagonist and outsider. Her plight and desperation to escape her circumstances grounds this movie in something tangible while the plot regarding Mr. Heller is so outlandish. Though the script does have major plot problems, the dialogue among the teens isn't one of them, nor their interactions with each other and Clara's overall arc.

Teacher's Pet is an entertaining thriller, despite some of the script's imperfections. Barnett and Torian are especially strong and give their roles their all. At 90 minutes, the film never drags and certainly doesn't overstay its welcome. Here, an English class becomes interesting and engaging, simply because we don't know who Mr. Heller could kill next.

Teacher's Pet released on digital and VOD on Friday, February 6.