The Lesson

Passing on a somewhat decent idea, the movie unfortunately does not take full advantage of its potential. If you like your torture movie and don't mind or rather cherish low budget movies that look better than the money that has been spent on it, than you are in for a treat. Unfortunately that is a very low bar.

And while I do salute any movie that makes the most of a very tiny and small budget, that does not take away the fact, that it has to be just judged by those merits. Especially if you have so many clichés thrown into the mix. There is gore and there is offensive material aplenty. Don't confuse trying to shock with wit though. Does it try to be witty? Yes. Does it succeed? No. I reckon someone did not do their homework properly ...

It only took 15 minutes into film for me hate both students... So whatever the teacher did torturing them was a treat for me..

This was a low budget horror flick with a semi-interesting premise. The movie follows a young student who's not exactly going the right path in life and he and his friends terrorize their teacher. His brother is even worse and the only character you could possibly root for is the girlfriend of the brother but even she is not really a protagonist to root for. The movie takes some time before it gets going and you follow our main character through his struggles in life and him chilling with his questionable friends. After a while the movie devolves into a kidnap-story and a torture porn movie. The gore is okay, the acting is somewhere between decent and bad and the plot bores after some time. It was a decent try but it could have been way better and turned out really forgettable. [4,4/10]

Have read a lot about this film and it's independent, creative,thoughtful persona. Has a docudrama / realist heart , getting down there to the "real"people on the council estates with all these problems (mostly via male emotional betrayal and bullying) that lead to classic alienation from education, culture, love, and playing a positive role in a society (in this film unmentioned in terms of poverty, economic exploitation and inequality). Thus, the effect on the cultured, educated English teacher of these ill cultured crude schoolboys who disrupt and abuse him in his classes is for him to become a vicious, psychotic kidnapper and murderer. And thus rescuing the working class laddo and lassie from their grimness, lifting them into a chocolate box cottage life of Oxbridge culture. Arty rubbish is how I felt watching this mish mash of styles and ideas. This film reminded me of the gymnasium scene from Andersons' "If" where the rebel Mick is beaten into submission and then has to shake the hand of his establishment bully.

This was not executed well enough to be a movie.

The plot is basic, but it got convoluted quick with the flashbacks and torture teaching.

If I remember correctly, one of the students tortured was a decent kid.

The violence is poorly executed.

The whole thing dragged and was pointless.