The Penguin Lessons (dir. Peter Cattaneo)

by Jack Martin | Apr 16, 2025

Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 112 mins

UK Distributor: Lionsgate

UK Release Date: 16 April 2025

WHO’S IN THE PENGUIN LESSONS?

Steve Coogan, Björn Gustafsson, David Herrero, Jonathan Pryce, Julián Galli Guillén, Aimar Miranda, Nicanor Fernandez, Hugo Fuertes, Joaquín Lopez, Miguel Alejandro Serrano, Ramiro Blas, Florencia Nocetti, Micaela Breque, Romina Cocca, Alfonsina Carrocio, Tomás Pozzi, Vivian El Jaber, Juan M. Barreiro, Gera Maleh

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Peter Cattaneo (director), Jeff Pope (writer), Rory Aitken, Adrián Guerra, Andrew Noble, Pen Pugh and Robert Walak (producers), Federico Jusid (composer), Xavi Giménez (cinematographer), Robin Peters (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

In 70s Argentina, a British teacher (Coogan) forms an unlikely bond with a penguin…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THE PENGUIN LESSONS?

Had it debuted a couple of decades ago, The Penguin Lessons would have been the kind of feel-good comedy-drama with strong political and historical themes that, under the guidance of a certain now-disgraced mega-producer, would have easily swept the Oscars. But as much as the Academy’s tastes in what they deem to be movie excellence have evolved in the years since (hell, they just gave Best Picture to a screwball comedy about a sex worker, and a couple of years ago to a film with hotdog fingers and bumbag kung-fu), so have those of most other audiences, who might now be more weary of the manipulative tricks that certain Oscar-bait movies might try to pull in order to elicit tears from its captive viewers.

That isn’t to say that The Penguin Lessons, from director Peter Cattaneo and writer Jeff Pope, is necessarily one of those movies. Its attempts at emotion seem to come from a genuine place, one that’s largely free of awards season cynicism, and at times it can be fairly charming in its own way. But as good-intentioned as it is, the film has a slightly empty feeling about it, with perhaps not enough narrative substance to fill an entire movie riding on its cutesy premise.

Based on the similarly titled memoir by Tom Michell, the film takes place in mid-70s Argentina, a country on the verge of political revolution, where Michell (Steve Coogan) is a British teacher who arrives at an exclusive boys’ school to teach the privileged students English. During a trip to Uruguay, the withdrawn and unsociable Michell finds and rescues a penguin from an oil slick on the beach, but it refuses to leave his side after being cleaned up and sent on its way, forcing Michell to take it back to the school where he becomes its unexpected caregiver. Over time, the penguin – eventually named Juan Salvador – helps Michell to form meaningful bonds with fellow staff, including the all-too formal headmaster Buckle (Jonathan Pryce) as well as housekeeper Maria (Vivian El Jaber) and her more outspoken granddaughter Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio), and his fellow students who are slowly transformed from unruly brats to eager learners of the various poets that Michell teaches about.

Unsurprisingly, the best parts of the film revolve around the titular penguin. Juan Salvador is an undeniably adorable creature, its blank yet inquisitive face (not to mention its inane ability to shit everywhere) rarely failing to elicit a pleasing smile at the very least during whatever silliness it gets up to. It has good chemistry with nearly every human it acts opposite, including Steve Coogan who’s at his most charmingly cynical as Michell, and at times the penguin will damn near break your heart as the hands of fate reveal their cruellest cards. Even though it cannot speak – its inner monologue from Michell’s original book is wisely removed by screenwriter Pope – the penguin somehow also has the best lines, as director Cattaneo brings out a whole personality from his well-trained animal star that is so endearing and universal that one doesn’t need dialogue to understand what it’s trying to say.

The filmmakers’ intentions are decent enough to endure, as they frame The Penguin Lessons as this wholesome friendship drama that’s certainly chasing the likes of Dead Poets Society (its classroom scenes are always one poetry recital away from an “O Captain! My Captain!” moment), with a cuddly penguin added for good measure, but has its heart in the right place. However, where things take more of a sanitised direction is in its handling of the political landscape surrounding all of this wholesomeness, as the growingly fascist situation in Argentina is largely reduced to almost comically militant authority figures, and mid-street abductions that briefly make it feel like a scene from I’m Still Here. Much of it revolves around the main character’s inability to act in the face of it all, especially when one prominent character is suddenly whisked away by sinister figures, yet the drama that the director and screenwriter both attempt to mine from that incident rings slightly hollow, for it narratively serves as a catalyst for the non-Argentine protagonist to take a stand rather than the abducted character’s more local relatives, whose own reactions are largely sidelined in favour of more time between Coogan and the penguin.

Beyond its muddled attempts to blend historical fact into feel-good storytelling, Pope’s script is also perhaps too light-hearted for its own good. There is little in the sense of a genuine threat, without so much as a de facto villain to rally against – even Jonathan Pryce’s stuffy character turns out to not exactly be the antagonist he is initially built up to be – while the film feels weightless in its seemingly heavier moments, which makes the film less dramatically engaging than it ought to be. It ultimately reaches a point where it simply comes to a stop rather than concluding on a more satisfying note, for while it ends on a rather powerful final shot (thanks in part due to Xavi Giménez’s clean-cut cinematography) there seems to be a final coda missing that the closing text isn’t quite able to replace.

The film, in all, is a mixed bag that perhaps needed more dramatic weight for its more political moments to land comfortably amidst the good-heartedness. But, thanks to its central flightless bird, The Penguin Lessons remains endearing enough to please most audiences, even though it’s hard to escape some of its Oscar-baiting tendencies.

SO, TO SUM UP…

The Penguin Lessons is a wholesome if weightless comedy-drama that features an adorable central turn from the titular penguin, but also some ill-fated depictions of 70s Argentina that while nobly-minded come off as overly hollow.