Review One night in kindergarten [Netflix]

Director: Rafal Skalsky | Scenario: Marek Baranowski | Launch: Piotr Witkowski (Eryk), Lena Gora (Justyna), Matylda Damiecka (Kacha), Zbigniew Zamachowski (Tadeusz), ea | Execution time: 97 minutes | Year: 2022

Wimpy Eryk wants to prove to his girlfriend that he can be a good partner by attending the parents’ meeting at his son’s elementary school. The other parents present don’t exactly welcome Eryk with open arms, because they rudely hate their stepson and would like to see him leave as soon as possible. When all the parents then prepare the Christmas show together, the whole event degenerates into a series of confusing events and revelations.

Night in kindergarten is placed in the comedy genre by Netflix, but from the promotional material to the soundtrack and the design hints at a touch of horror. However, that’s it, why don’t you see real horror in this Polish film. Unfortunately, it’s not very funny either and that’s how it falls Night in kindergarten somewhere in the black hole of oblivion and it makes no impression.

The main character Eryk also does not advance the story, because the real pivot of the story is his stepson Tytus, who is not present in the important scenes. Also, Eryk’s motivations aren’t clear and there isn’t any kind of development in the character, which really applies to all characters.

The character who fares by far the worst is the elementary school teacher. She appears at completely random moments and then disappears into the shadows. This gives the character a sinister undertone, but is ultimately not pursued. She turns out to be just an average nanny who wants the best for her students. Somewhere in the middle she pops out of her picture one last time, after which we never see her again. Again, not for some exciting, dark reason, but simply because the writers ran out of her lines for her.

What is the message of Night in kindergarten remains uncertain. No doubt it will have something to do with the fights between parents and children, childhood tensions between adults and the dangers of bullying, but none of these things come across as a good reason to watch the film. The creators don’t seem to have spent much time coming up with interesting storylines, so it’s up to the viewer to come up with an entertaining alternative. Perhaps one that fits best with the film’s still pretty cool visuals.

Night in kindergarten can be seen at Netflix.