Predators Thrive Where Trust Is Assumed

Read Time:5 Minute, 31 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Teacher's Pet
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Genre: Psychological Thriller
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director(s): Noam Kroll
Writer(s): Noam Kroll
Cast: Michelle Torian, Luke Barnett, Clayton Royal Johnson, Sara Tomko, Drew Powell, Kevin Makely, Alexe Godin, Barbara Crampton
Where to Watch: available on digital and VOD February 6, 2026

RAVING REVIEW: What happens when a system designed to shape young minds becomes a hunting ground instead? TEACHER’S PET takes a premise that feels uncomfortably plausible and refuses to treat it as a metaphor or exaggeration. Writer/director Noam Kroll’s psychological thriller frames the academic environment not as a refuge, but as a system built on trust, authority, and access. These very conditions make it vulnerable to exploitation.

Michelle Torian stars as Clara, a gifted but isolated high school senior counting down the days until she can leave behind an abusive foster situation and escape to Yale. Her intelligence isn’t portrayed as an abstract virtue, but as survival capital. Writing is her outlet, her armor, and eventually her battlefield. When her English teacher dies under mysterious circumstances, the arrival of a charismatic replacement initially appears to offer stability. Instead, it becomes the catalyst for something more dangerous.

Luke Barnett's role as Mr. Heller is introduced with an unsettling calm. He isn’t overtly threatening, nor is he immediately positioned as a monster. His menace lies in his patience and his ability to recognize vulnerability. TEACHER’S PET understands that predatory behavior often arrives disguised as opportunity. Heller’s interest in Clara’s potential is framed as mentorship, encouragement, and advocacy, precisely the terminology institutions are trained to trust.

Kroll’s script leans heavily into the psychology of control rather than the mechanics of violence, until it doesn’t. The film’s tension builds through small, invasive moments: selective attention, private conversations, boundary-testing disguised as concern. The story never dismisses Clara’s increasing unease as paranoia. Instead, the film tracks how intuition struggles to assert itself within systems that reward compliance and deference.

What elevates TEACHER’S PET beyond the routine thriller that it could have been is Torian’s performance. Clara isn’t written as a passive victim or a genre archetype. She’s observant, strategic, and guarded. Torian plays her as someone constantly calculating risk, weighing every interaction against the cost of retaliation or disbelief. The film portrays her intelligence as both a strength and a vulnerability. Being perceptive doesn’t protect her from harm; it simply makes her more aware of the danger closing in.

Barnett’s performance complements this dynamic effectively. His portrayal of Heller is restrained, almost disarmingly casual. The character’s threat comes from his refusal to escalate emotionally, even as the situation grows more dire. This nonchalance is where the film finds much of its unease. Heller doesn’t need to raise his voice. He operates with the confidence of someone who believes the system will protect him, because it always has. The most intriguing aspect of his character is what we, the audience, witness vs. what the rest of the cast does.

The supporting cast reinforces the film’s institutional atmosphere rather than offering easy outs. Barbara Crampton’s presence, in particular, adds an authority that complicates Clara’s isolation. Adults exist in this world, but they are bound by protocol, perception, and missing information. TEACHER’S PET is careful not to portray them as villains, but it does indict the structures that prevent intervention.

Kroll uses lens choices and framing to oscillate between claustrophobia and exposure, often placing Clara in environments that should feel safe but never quite do. Classrooms, offices, and hallways become arenas of surveillance rather than learning. The film’s visuals mirror Clara’s internal state: alert, compressed, and always anticipating the next move.

Thematically, TEACHER’S PET is preoccupied with duality. Both Clara and Heller are shaped by past trauma. Both use language as a tool. Both understand how narratives can be manipulated to control outcomes. The film’s most interesting idea is not simply that predator and victim are locked in opposition, but that survival sometimes requires adopting the threat's tactics. Clara’s arc is not about innocence preserved, but about adaptation under pressure.

The film’s central idea will feel familiar to seasoned genre viewers. TEACHER’S PET doesn’t feel like it's trying to reinvent the psychological thriller, nor does it fully surprise in its broader portrayal. The final act leans into ambiguity rather than catharsis, blurring the line between victory and its cost. Kroll is less interested in punishment than in aftermath, in how survival reshapes identity rather than restores it.

TEACHER’S PET takes its subject seriously. It understands that danger’s warning signs don’t always come with violence, and that alone is not a shield against exploitation. By grounding its thriller in performance, psychology, and institutional critique, the film earns its tension honestly, even when it treads familiar ground. It’s a tightly constructed, performance-forward thriller that may not redefine the genre, but it engages with its material without sensationalism. TEACHER’S PET recognizes that the most frightening predators are often the ones who know exactly how to appear indispensable.

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[photo courtesy of LAUNCH ENTERTAINMENT, ARTISTIC UPRISING, TEACHERS LOUNGE PRODUCTIONS, QUIVER DISTRIBUTION]

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