Film Review: The Penguin Lessons

The Penguin Lessons
Director: Peter Cattaneo
Intake Films, Rolling Dice, Nostromo Pictures
In Theaters: 03.28.25

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I’ve walked out of theater complaining, or hearing others complain “How come we don’t get more movies about British teachers or penguins living in Argentina in the 70s?” Even if this thought has somehow never crossed your mind, you may still find that The Penguin Lessons satisfies a craving you didn’t know you had.

The Penguin Lessons follows Tom Michell (Steve Coogan, I’m Alan Partridge, Philomena) a British educator who takes a job teaching English at a prestigious boarding school in Buenos Aires in 1976. Oblivious to the country’s growing political unrest, he remains detached until a military coup forces the school to close. Seeking a brief escape, he travels to Uruguay, where, while trying to romance a woman, Carine (Micaela Breque, The Mallorca Files), on the beach, finds a dying penguin who has been drenched by an oil slick. They take the penguin back to Michell’s hotel, clean it in the bathtub, and then Carine leaves him to take care of the penguin on his own. Michel reluctantly smuggles the bird back to Argentina and gradually forms an unexpected bond with the creature, who is eventually given the name Juan Salvador, and his presence begins to transform both his life and the lives of those around him. As the political situation escalates, Tom is forced to confront the reality of the world outside the school walls in ways he never anticipated.

Based on Tom Michell’s 2016 memoir, The Penguin Lessons is an absorbing and endearing comedy-drama about personal growth, self discovery, resilience and the ripple effect of small acts of kindness and courage. Director Peter Cattaneo, best known for the 1997 phenomenon The Full Monty, excels at this sort of small, character oriented piece, and he keeps things moving while developing strong character dynamics. The script by Jeff Pope (Stan & Ollie) is solidly constructed, with witty dialogue and memorable dialogue. Though the Argentinian setting plays into the story and we get glimpses of the horrors of the Dirty War, it glosses over a lot of context, keeping the violence and atrocities to a generic and broad backdrop of oppression, with one exchange between school boys parroting insults about socialism and fascism being about as deep as it gets, until a major plot points draws us deeper into the danger, even if it provides little perspective as to why it’s happening. It’s perhaps the right choice not to get bogged down in trying to explain the minutiae of the conflict and simply tell the story, though viewers under 30 won’t only learn much history from the film unless it inspires them to Google it, and those over 30 will just be thinking “Is this before or after Evita, and why is that one guy (Jonathan Pryce) in both?” (the answers are “after” and “just because,” respectively).

Coogan drives the film with a low-key mix of melancholy and dry comic delivery, and he keeps us invested in and believing Michell’s journey from self centered cynic to thoughtful idealist.  Alfonsina Carocciio (Society of the Snow) is terrific as Sofia, a spirited housekeeper at the school who teaches Michell a lesson or two about how apathy can be more harmful than malevolence. Björn Gustafsson (Spy, Kung Fury) is quite amusing as Tapio, another teacher at the school, and Pryce adds a lot of presence as Headmaster Buckle. The best moments are reserved for Coogan and the Juan Salvador, who is portrayed by a real penguin and by animatronics, and possibly by Colin Farrell under some very heavy makeup.

The Penguin Lessons is a very enjoyable, inspirational little film that isn’t likely to find a large audience in the US, despite being the kind of film that is liked by nearly everyone who sees it. If you’re up for a likable drama with enough emotion and depth to keep you hooked for just under two hours, and maybe even a little push to try to do a bit of good in this crazy, messed up world, there’s a lot of warmth and charm to be found herd. —Patrick Gibbs 

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