It’s extremely stifling being Lisa Spinelli. Her suburban life, her job teaching kindergarten kids, her teenage children who are more interested in their phones than her, her nice but uninspiring partner, her dream of a life filled with art and words that hasn’t materialised…

It’s a life many can relate to but one that we don’t often see on screen; not awful, quite privileged, but utterly underwhelming.

However, everything shifts when Lisa (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) discovers that Jimmy, one of the children she teaches, has a ferocious poetic talent and is often overtaken by his creative spirit, making verse up on the spot.

She begins stealing his poems and claiming them as her own during her poetry class taught by handsome professor, Simon (Gael García Bernal), where she is hailed for her way with words.

It’s not long until her interest in Jimmy develops into an unhealthy fascination. As events take a dark turn, Lisa continues to tell herself that she only wants the best for her young protégé, making it all the more unsettling to watch.

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