'The Penguin Lessons' Trailer Is Just as Adorable as We All Expected
Steve Coogan and a small feathered friend in "The Penguin Lessons"
(Photo: Sony Pictures)
Given the state of... well, pretty much everything at the moment, we can probably all use a heartwarming movie that co-stars an adorable animal. If that's the case, mark your calendars for the release of The Penguin Lessons, a fan favorite from last year's Toronto International Film Festival slated to arrive in U.S. theaters this March. Based on a real-life story, the film follows a disillusioned Englishman who journeys to South America in the 1970s where he ends up making a very unexpected friend.
Popular comedian turned recent dramatic actor Steve Coogan (Brian & Maggie) stars as Tom, a school teacher who takes a job in Argentina in 1976. The position isn't as simple as he was initially led to believe, however— the country is on the brink of a military coup, and the schoolchildren he's meant to be teaching are completely uninterested in listening to him, let alone actually learning anything. But when he unexpectedly rescues a penguin trapped in an oil slick during a holiday trip to Uruguay, his life changes forever.
Forced to sneak the little creature back to Buenos Aires in order to save its life, the penguin becomes a combination of mascot, pet, and sentimental metaphor, as it catalyzes both Tom and his students to see their lives from a new perspective. The smallest person can change the course of the future, and all that.
(The penguin is also completely adorable in and of itself, which certainly doesn't hurt.)
Here's the film's synopsis:
Based on the successful book of the same name by Tom Michell, the film charts the true story of a disillusioned Englishman who went to work in a school in Argentina in 1976. Expecting an easy ride, he discovered instead a complicated and divided nation – and a class of practically unteachable young boys. However, when he finds a small penguin washed up on an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside down – and the penguin becomes not only a valued friend but also a teacher to all he meets.
Alongside Coogan, the ensemble cast also stars Jonathan Pryce (The Crown), Micaela Breque (The Mallorca Files), Romina Cocca (My Oxford Year), Björn Gustafsson (Eurovision), Ramiro Blas (Silent Witness), Florencia Nocetti (Money Heist), Vivian El Jaber (Guapas), Tomás Pozzi (The Three Wise Kings vs. Santa), Gera Maleh (The Year of Fury), Aimar Miranda (Nacho), Hugo Fuertes (Bose), Miguel Alejandro Serrano (CCCC Stories), Alfonsina Carrocio (Society of the Snow), Juan M. Barreiro (Holy Family), plus newcomers David Herrero, Nicanor Fernandez, and Joaquín Lopez.
The film is based on the 2015 memoir of the same name by Tom Mitchell, with Jeff Pope (Archie) adapting the story for the screen and Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) directing. Coogan, Mitchell, Pope, and Josh Varney are all executive producers, alongside Joshua Horsfield and Nia Vazirani for Rolling Dice.
The Penguins Lessons will be released in theaters on Friday, March 28, 2025.
