This literally felt like a film school mesh of style and (now) old-school torture porn. Don't get me wrong; the movie was well-made and shot, but it seemed like a bunch of ideas (Look at what I can do!) all edited together with the bulk of Angry Teacher thrown in for the majority of the substance.Is there a message here? Are there characters that you can stand behind? Can anyone really learn a lesson here? If you answered YES to any of those questions…I'm gonna nail gun you so hard nouns will spill out of your bloody orifice! And now. For your homework…find a more cohesive movie to watch.

Have read a lot about this film and it's independent, creative,thoughtful persona. Has a docudrama / realist heart , getting down there to the "real"people on the council estates with all these problems (mostly via male emotional betrayal and bullying) that lead to classic alienation from education, culture, love, and playing a positive role in a society (in this film unmentioned in terms of poverty, economic exploitation and inequality). Thus, the effect on the cultured, educated English teacher of these ill cultured crude schoolboys who disrupt and abuse him in his classes is for him to become a vicious, psychotic kidnapper and murderer. And thus rescuing the working class laddo and lassie from their grimness, lifting them into a chocolate box cottage life of Oxbridge culture. Arty rubbish is how I felt watching this mish mash of styles and ideas. This film reminded me of the gymnasium scene from Andersons' "If" where the rebel Mick is beaten into submission and then has to shake the hand of his establishment bully.

If Ken Loach had ever produced a horror film, it would have looked very much like 'The Lesson'. This is a hugely thought provoking film whose portrayal of horror goes so much further and deeper than the scenes of violence. The film is firmly grounded in the real world, our world, with real people dealing with real issues. For the hard core chain saw massacre viewer, the film may take a while to get to the 'horror' scenes - but for me, the horror started from the moment the film began as we witness the appalling way people treat each other and how horrifically society fails them. Ultimately it is hard to say who is the monster and who the victim- in fact the most stomach churning scenes for me involved the domestic violence. Having said that Robert Hands is outstanding as the teacher. His mercurial performance is totally empathetic and mesmeric - at one moment terrifying , the next pathetic. Sign of a great film for me is that it makes you think as you watch it, it makes you think as you discuss it afterwards and it is still making you think days later. This film does that with knobs on.

When the students frustrate the teacher too much, what will the teacher do? Perhaps those students need a lesson - a real lesson that they will never forget in their lifetime.The teacher makes sure that the students pay full attention this time, no matter what it takes. He has all the tools for the job - nails, hammers, pliers, knives, duct tape and a brand new nail gun. And so follows a night of horror, torture and screams. But he will not stop until they learn the lesson by heart.If you have loved Panic Room (2002), Shuttle (2009) and Saw (2004), then you will enjoy this movie too.