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Lesson Plan review – a harrowing look at teen drug addiction

We review the Netflix film Lesson Plan, which does not contain spoilers.

Netflix has had a string of action films with compelling stories, and Lesson Plan,   directed by Daniel Markowicz , is jam-packed. From the very beginning, he sets the tone of the story with a drug dealer who has gotten to high school students.

He has been planting these drugs in schools and these poor teenagers fall deep into addiction . After a teacher tragically dies, his friend, who happens to be a former cop, takes over his old job in hopes of catching the people responsible for his murder, as per the synopsis on IMDB.

The cop takes his old skills while he was working undercover and he applies that to teaching his friend’s students how to defend themselves, just in case they ever encountered these henchmen with the drugs. what was so interesting about this was the fact that the teens who weren’t on drugs were so keen on helping their classmates get out of the addiction.

They were very vocal about their friend’s whereabouts in front of teachers and they ended up forming their own group to find them. While all this is happening, the cop has to deal with his own trauma as his past comes back to haunt him.

When he was undercover, he got so close to getting the head dealer, but it cost him his wife. So he tries to live again and turn those bad moments into something good by helping these teens. 

The film has some great action but when it gets into the fight choreography it looks unpolished. It does begin to drag in the middle because there are many characters involved, and the story gets lost.

But, once the teens get involved with their group it picks back up again. The better thread of the story is how these teens are helping each other, you get to see the underground of the drug deals and it’s concerning.

This really does happen in many high schools in different countries, and it’s difficult to actually stop this. It becomes like an idea planted in someone’s mind and it’s almost impossible to yank it out.

Apart from the character development of the cop, the movie does highlight the early signs of addiction and what to watch for when you’re a parent with a teen in high school.

Markowicz made some good decisions in regard to teaching the children how to defend themselves. He was able to have the former cop develop into someone with a heart and he seemed healed by the end of this film.

Even though bad things can happen to good people, it doesn’t mean they have to stay broken. There’s a way to patch everything together.

What did you think of the Netflix film Lesson Plan? Comment below.

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Article by Amanda Guarragi

Amanda Guarragi joined Ready Steady Cut as an Entertainment Writer in June 2022. She is a Toronto-based film critic who has covered TIFF, Sundance Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, and HorrorFest International. Amanda is also a growing YouTuber, with her channel Candid Cinema growing in popularity.

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Lesson plan, common sense media reviewers.

Bland action-thriller has lots of violence, drugs, language.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Even though the film is violent, the underscoring

Damien is a former cop who uses violence to fight

The film isn't racially diverse, but there's some

Much of the film is comprised of fighting/violent

Making out.

"F--k," "damn," "s--t," "f--king."

The villains are students and teachers who are par

Parents need to know that Lesson Plan is a Polish thriller-action film about a former cop who finds out his friend, a history teacher, died under mysterious circumstances. He takes his friend's job at the school to investigate what led to his friend's death. The film includes numerous scenes with discussions…

Positive Messages

Even though the film is violent, the underscoring message is that perseverance and teamwork are important to rectifying societal issues.

Positive Role Models

Damien is a former cop who uses violence to fight through the drug ring that has killed his friend. Even though he's a violent man, he's portrayed as someone who uses violence for good, since he's trying to restore justice and save his friend's school from drugs and crime. He also teaches his class self-protection skills, which come in handy when they all take down the drug ring.

Diverse Representations

The film isn't racially diverse, but there's some exposure to Polish culture. Female characters aren't well-defined outside of their relationships to men, especially Damian's love interest, who acts less like a fellow teacher and more like a lovestruck student. Only one female character, a student, is portrayed as someone who isn't solely defined by male relationships.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Much of the film is comprised of fighting/violent scenes. In one scene, a character gets shot in the head. It's insinuated that Damian's love interest, a fellow teacher, was about to be sexually assaulted by a gang of students if Damian didn't arrive to fight them. Damian's friend, a history teacher, dies allegedly by suicide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

The villains are students and teachers who are part of a drug ring within the school. Discussions about drug use and addiction, as well as scenes with drinking and drug use.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Lesson Plan is a Polish thriller-action film about a former cop who finds out his friend, a history teacher, died under mysterious circumstances. He takes his friend's job at the school to investigate what led to his friend's death. The film includes numerous scenes with discussions and images of drug use and drinking. Much of the film is comprised of fighting/violent scenes. A character gets shot in the head. It's insinuated a woman was about to be sexually assaulted by a gang of students. Someone allegedly dies by suicide. Language includes "f--k," "damn," "s--t," and "f--king." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Lesson Plan

After a teacher tragically dies, his friend, who happens to be a former cop, takes over his old job in hopes of catching the people responsible for his murder. After a teacher tragically dies, his friend, who happens to be a former cop, takes over his old job in hopes of catching the people responsible for his murder. After a teacher tragically dies, his friend, who happens to be a former cop, takes over his old job in hopes of catching the people responsible for his murder.

• Daniel Markowicz
• Daniel Bernardi
• Piotr Witkowski
• Jan Wieczorkowski
• Antonina Jarnuszkiewicz
• 17 User reviews
• 13 Critic reviews

• Damian Nowicki

• Leszek Zamojski
• Agata Kierska

• Kamil Makowiecki

• Stefan Idziorek

• Szymon Makowiecki
• 'Harry'

• Ela Makowiecka
• 'Makak'
• 'Lucy'
• (as Jakub Sprenger)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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User reviews 17

• gburrows711
• Dec 3, 2022
• How long is Lesson Plan? Powered by Alexa
• November 23, 2022 (United States)
• Plan lekcji
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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• Runtime 1 hour 41 minutes

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Lesson Plan Reviews

• 1 hr 41 mins
• Drama, Suspense, Action & Adventure
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After a teacher dies, his best friend takes a job at the school where he worked. The former cop works to find those he believes was responsible for his best friend's death.

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2023, Mystery & thriller, 1h 43m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Even if it isn't always quite as clever as it seems to think it is, sharp performances from an outrageously talented cast make The Lesson worth learning. Read critic reviews

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The lesson videos, the lesson   photos.

Liam (Daryl McCormack), an aspiring and ambitious young writer, eagerly accepts a tutoring position at the family estate of his idol, renowned author J.M. Sinclair (Academy Award nominee Richard E. Grant). But soon, Liam realizes that he is ensnared in a web of family secrets, resentment, and retribution. Sinclair, his wife Hélène (Academy Award nominee Julie Delpy), and their son Bertie (Stephen McMillan) all guard a dark past, one that threatens Liam's future as well as their own. As the lines between master and protégé blur, class, ambition, and betrayal become a dangerous combination in this taut noir thriller.

Genre: Mystery & thriller

Original Language: English

Director: Alice Troughton

Producer: Camille Gatin , Cassandra Sigsgaard , Judy Tossell , Fabien Westerhoff

Writer: Alex MacKeith

Release Date (Theaters): Jul 7, 2023  limited

Box Office (Gross USA): $284.7K

Runtime: 1h 43m

Distributor: Bleecker Street

Production Co: Bleecker Street Media, Egoli Tossell Film, Jeva Films, Poison Chef, Constellation Productions

Cast & Crew

Richard E. Grant

JM Sinclair

Julie Delpy

Hélène Sinclair

Daryl McCormack

Liam Sommers

Crispin Letts

Stephen McMillan

Bertie Sinclair

Alice Troughton

Alex MacKeith

Screenwriter

Camille Gatin

Cassandra Sigsgaard

Judy Tossell

Fabien Westerhoff

Andrew Karpen

Executive Producer

Kent Sanderson

Anna Patarakina

Cinematographer

Paulo Pandolpho

Film Editing

Isobel Waller-Bridge

Original Music

Seth Turner

Production Design

Henning Jördens

Art Director

Verena Schlünsen

Set Decoration

Sabine Böbbis

Costume Design

Dixie Chassay

Martin Heberden

Jens Meurer

Film Editor

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The Lesson review – amusing but contrived literary thriller about family tragedy and vengeful ambition

A charismatic young tutor comes to help a tragedy-stuck family in a bookish drama that’s fun and smart, but not entirely convincing

H ere is a brittle and contrived but rather elegant Brit thriller about literary paranoia from debut feature screenwriter Alex MacKeith and director Alice Troughton, herself a cinema first-timer having had much acclaim working on TV. The upscale and sophisticated mise-en-scène is rather French; Julie Delpy has a role here and looks quite at home.

Richard E Grant plays JM Sinclair, a bestselling, sharp-tongued author who gives roguish interviews repeating the old maxim that good artists borrow but great ones steal. He is married to art collector Hélène (Delpy) and they live in a handsome country estate with extensive grounds and a lake. But Sinclair, usually so prolific, has retreated to a haunted creative silence following the tragic death of his elder son; the parents are now concerned with moody and mercurial younger boy Bertie (Stephen McMillan) who needs to be coached to get a place at Oxford to read English.

And so they engage a live-in tutor to give lessons: this is Liam (Daryl McCormack), whose charm engages his employers. Liam finds himself having dinner with the family wearing borrowed clothes belonging to the dead son. But more painfully still, Liam admires Sinclair because he is a would-be author himself, and tremulously shows him his first novel in manuscript – with calamitous results.

I enjoyed the “lesson” scenes here, especially when Liam has to provide a reading list. (My reading list for this film would be: John Colapinto’s About the Author , Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot, Rebecca F Kuang’s Yellowface and James Hadley Chase’s Eve.) As for McCormack, he has the same screen presence he showed playing opposite Emma Thompson in the comedy Good Luck to You, Leo Grande – a not dissimilar role, in fact. Yet here he has to be angry, vengeful and infatuated, and the role certainly tests his emotional range pretty severely. Well, it’s hard not to be upstaged when matched with Richard E Grant in full flight. An amusing essay in conceit and revenge.

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• Richard E Grant
• Julie Delpy

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Critic’s Pick

‘The Lesson’ Review: Carefully Taut

A tense standoff between two writers kindles familial fireworks in this wittily self-aware melodrama.

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By Jeannette Catsoulis

No one is quite what they seem in “The Lesson,” Alice Troughton’s winking literary mystery whose languid summer setting — a swanky estate in the English countryside — hides coldly destructive secrets.

The seemingly innocent arrival of Liam ( Daryl McCormack ), a hunky recent graduate hired as a live-in tutor to the son of the celebrated author J.M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant), almost immediately causes ripples in the family’s strained dynamic.

Sinclair, a pompous control freak, is struggling to finish a novel so long delayed that his fans fear he has retired. His son, Bertie (Stephen McMillan), is smart and snotty, jaggedly rebuffing Liam’s patient attempts to coach him to take the entrance exams for Oxford University. (Honestly, he should fit right in.) Then there’s Sinclair’s wife, Hélène (Julie Delpy), an art curator so coolly, seductively enigmatic that at least one of Liam’s assignments is immediately predictable.

Unfolding with a tonic intelligence and a slow accretion of menace, Alex MacKeith’s screenplay is smoothly in sync with the specific skills of each performer. Grant is magnificent as a cruel, past-his-prime genius burdened by terrible guilt over an earlier family tragedy, and Delpy — well, can any actor express so much with a single, withering look? Or persuade us that experiencing cunnilingus is no more exciting than having a pedicure?

Yet in an atmosphere as chilly as the lake that lurks on the property, it is Liam — played by McCormack with open-faced guile — who intrigues. Drinking heavily and scribbling in a notebook when everyone’s asleep, spying on the family while concealing his long obsession with Sinclair, Liam gains a trust he doesn’t deserve. In this den of deceit and desperation, it’s never quite clear who is manipulating whom.

The Lesson Rated R for Delpy en déshabillé and Grant on his knees. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. In theaters.

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“Maggie’s Plan” exists within a very specific, very recognizable cinematic realm: that of the intellectual, narcissistic New Yorker. Woody Allen established it; Noah Baumbach modernized it. Now, writer/director Rebecca Miller is visiting it with often amusing but mixed results.

It’s a rare light comedy from Miller, best known for weighty dramas like “ Personal Velocity ” and “ The Ballad of Jack and Rose .” But despite the machinations and manipulations of the film’s titular plot, “Maggie’s Plan” almost isn’t screwball enough. The characters must undergo some introspection, as well, and striking a balance between those two dynamics proves challenging.

Miller offers a vivid snapshot of a niche segment of New York, however. She truly gets the city’s rhythms and idiosyncrasies, and her dialogue frequently sparkles. Her characters are self-serious academics who offer compliments like: “Nobody unpacks commodity fetishism like you do.” But she also finds room for quirky Brooklyn hipsters, including a self-titled “pickle entrepreneur” who would fit in just fine among the ironic Williamsburg crowd in Baumbach’s “While We’re Young.”

Baumbach’s muse and frequent collaborator, Greta Gerwig , also gives the film a feeling of familiarity as the title character. We’ve seen her play a version of Maggie many times before; it is her bread and butter. Maggie is guileless and enthusiastic—one sharp-tongued character aptly describes her as “a little bit stupid”—which gives a purity to her fumbling attempts toward maturity and stability.

Maggie works at The New School in an administrative position, as “a bridge between art and commerce,” as she puts it. She’s hopelessly single but yearns to have a child, so she procures a sample of sperm from an old college friend (a likably low-key Travis Fimmel ), a math whiz and pickle-maker who’s gentlemanly enough to offer to provide it the old-fashioned way. (She politely declines.)

But Maggie becomes more emotionally entangled with the brilliant professor John Harding ( Ethan Hawke ), a renowned expert in the field of “ficto-critical anthropology” and a struggling novelist. She agrees to read his book—a thinly-veiled depiction of his unhappy life with his even more brilliant wife, eccentric Danish academic Georgette ( Julianne Moore ), with whom he has two kids—and she falls in love with it. In turn, John falls in love with Maggie—although he’s probably just in love with the way she makes him feel in comparison to his actual spouse, who’s chilly and intimidating.

With her tight top knot and comically thick accent, Moore at first seems to be doing a spoof of a self-serious European intellectual. But because she can’t help but be excellent and provide insight into every character she plays, Moore reveals a vulnerability to Georgette that’s surprisingly compelling. This is especially true in her scenes with Gerwig. The two actresses have vastly different on-screen personae—Moore is all complex technique, Gerwig is all surface instinct—but together, they create a connection that’s unexpectedly pleasing and warm.

Cut to a few years later. John has left Georgette and married Maggie. The two have a daughter together but also split time with John’s kids with Georgette ( Mina Sundwall and Jackson Frazer ). They seem happy—and Maggie is even thriving amid the chaos of balancing work and mothering three kids—but it doesn’t take long for John to wallow in misery once more. All this time later, he still hasn’t finished the behemoth book that brought him and Maggie together in the first place. This makes Maggie begin to question her own happiness—and question whether she even wants to be with John anymore.

With the help of her more stable married best friends ( Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph ), Maggie hatches a plan to get John and Georgette back together again. (Hader and Rudolph, by the way, are the most interesting couple in the whole film—no-nonsense and quick-witted—but they don’t get nearly enough screen time. I actually might have preferred an entire movie about them, instead.)

It’s a scheme as old as the hills, downright Shakespearean in its potential for lively antics and wacky misunderstandings. Unfortuantely, Miller dials it down and taps into everyone’s insecurities and existential crises, detrimentally draining the film of energy when it should be building to a climax.

It’s a bold tonal decision, to be sure, but—not unlike the plan in “Maggie’s Plan”—it doesn’t quite turn out as expected.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Maggie's Plan (2016)

Rated R for language and some sexuality.

Greta Gerwig as Maggie

Ethan Hawke as John

Travis Fimmel as Guy

Julianne Moore as Georgette

Bill Hader as Tony

Maya Rudolph as Felicia

Wallace Shawn as Kliegler

• Rebecca Miller

Writer (story)

• Karen Rinaldi

Cinematographer

• Sabine Hoffman
• Michael Rohatyn

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