Films for Breakfast

Earnest dramas featuring an animal sidekick feels like a sub-genre from a bygone era, yet The Penguin Lessons is fully committed to telling both a captivating true story, as well as an earnestly amusing and old-fashioned film. The story takes place in 1976 and follows Tom Mitchell (Steve Coogan), an English teacher from Britain who takes on a job in Buenos Aires, Argentina at a prestigious boys’ school. Not too soon into his tenure at the school, Tom finds himself trying to impress a date by rescuing an oil-soaked penguin they find on the beach. After trying different ways of getting rid of the penguin, Tom finds himself stuck with him – so he might as well use him to grab the attention of his students.

There are two sides to The Penguin Lessons – the first of which is the side that feels like an old-fashioned, traditional buddy-film featuring a grumpy human character and an animal sidekick. This aspect of the film is incredibly endearing and proves that the formula works when the characters and situational comedy are both developed enough. Steve Coogan’s signature British wit matches the tone of the film and character of Tom Mitchell perfectly. Coogan’s comradery with not only the penguin (who is eventually named Juan Salvador), but the rest of the staff/students on campus provide some really solid levity.

The other side of The Penguin Lessons is the more serious side, where the film delves into the political unrest of Argentina in the 1970s. I knew little to nothing about the film before watching it, so I was a bit surprised to see a film that I thought would simply be a comedy tackle such heavy subject matter at time. With that being said, I found it to be quite effective in several areas – namely in the sections where Tom is confronted with the political climate of Argentina at this time, and he has to overcome his passive nature and learn to exert empathy to those around him who he is now sharing his life with.

Throughout the story, there are plenty of solid themes to pick-up on – I think it uses Juan Salvador as a pretty lovely example of brining people together despite personal and cultural tragedy, and to find the beauty in the everyday despite anything else going on that seems bigger than we are. While there is a ceiling for how deeply the film explores these themes, I found its approach to be pretty entertaining and appropriately emotional. While I wouldn’t say it’s going to end up being one of my favorite films of the year, The Penguin Lessons is certainly a nice surprise for the first half of 2025.