The Substitute (2007)

A group of sixth graders are convinced their new substitute teacher is actually a menacing alien.

Director:

Ole Bornedal

Writers:

Ole Bornedal (screenplay), Henrik Prip (screenplay)

Stars:

Paprika Steen, Ulrich Thomsen, Jonas Wandschneider

3 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paprika Steen	...	Ulla Harms
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Jesper Osböll
Jonas Wandschneider	...	Carl
Nikolaj Falkenberg-Klok	...	Phillip
Emma Juel Justesen	...	Rikke
Mollie Maria Gilmartin	...	Lotte
Josephine Gents	...	Camilla (as Josephine Wormslew Gents)
Emma Claudia Søndergaard	...	Laura
Jakob Fals Nygaard	...	Albert
Andreas Gram Nielsen	...	Tobias
Mathias Peter Kjær	...	Malthe
Sonja Richter	...	Maria
Peter Hesse Overgaard	...	Skoleinspektør Maele
Henrik Prip	...	Psykolog Claus
Olivia Stenderup Garre	...	Sofie

Storyline

6th Grade gets a new substitute teacher. She wants to train the class for an international competition in Paris. But something isn't right. How is she able read kids' minds? Why is she so mean? And how does she manage to convince everyone's parents she is so great when the whole class knows she is really an alien?

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Plot Keywords:

substitute teacher | alien | teenager | junior high school | little sister | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Denmark]

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

15 June 2007 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

The Substitute

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

Obel Film, Thura Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The earth globe seen from space in the beginning and the end of the film is falsely mirrored.

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Connections

Referenced in Live fra Bremen: Episode #1.1 (2009)

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Soundtracks

Sov Sødt Barn Lille
Næsby Kirkekor

User Reviews

Immensely enjoyable and entertaining

After a small Danish school class receives a strange substitute as a teacher, the students quickly discover she's an alien researching humanity and when their cries to their parents go unheeded, try to stop her plan from coming to fruition.

This was actually a lot of fun and quite entertaining. One of the more enjoyable aspects here is the fact that this one features a rather simple premise that gains a lot of credibility because of how it goes about keeping that a secret from those that matter. How this one builds up her identity, with the fake name, the strange photograph where objects keep appearing based on the revelations made by the group and the strange mind-control properties and the connection to the chickens make for great fun, and when it gets to the confirmation sequence, it's unbelievably suspenseful and generates a great shock, as well as the science-fiction centered finale that ends this one with some fun times. There's some mild flaws here, mainly in the fact that the target of this one being centered on kids, and middle-school children even, there's going to be no deaths or even gore opportunities involved which is fine but definitely keeps this far more tamed than it should. The bigger one, though, is that this one gets revealed so early on that the amount of time taken to convince others and spread the warning to the disbelieving parents feels more like a plot device to keep the movie going rather than any sort of truthful realness had this happened in real-life, but this is still a rather fun effort.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence and children-in-jeopardy.