The Penguin Lessons (2024) Review: Ever owned a pet penguin?

Approximately one picture is released by Director Peter Cattaneo MBE every seven to eight years. And they are usually fantastic. His latest film– The Penguin Lessons, is no exception.

Tracing the journey of Tom Michell, a Briton who travelled to Argentina in the turbulent 1970s to teach in a boarding school, this movie follows his memoir. In real life, he toured across South America in his spare time. During one of his trips, he arrived at a beach in Uruguay to find a massacre: oil-coated penguin corpses strewn across the sand. One of them, a Magellan penguin, was still alive despite scarcely moving and being covered in tar and oil like the other birds.

Michell wrote, “I needed a penguin like a penguin needs a motorbike.” On a whim, he rescued this penguin that was struggling to stay alive and brought him back to the apartment where he was residing during his time in Argentina. The story of their first encounter and the fascinating friendship that developed between Michell and the seabird is narrated in the book that served as the inspiration for this film.

In the cinematic version, English-Irish actor Steve Coogan plays Tom Michell. Politically, Argentina is on the brink of a military coup. Fleeing his past, Michell travels to Argentina. Although Michell’s tenure in Argentina sets off to a rocky start, he strives to help teach the casually lethargic boys of the elite St. George’s College to become more proficient in English. He succeeds in doing so, by using impromptu situations as examples in English grammar.

During his free time, Michell travels around South America. But, one fine day, while vacationing at a seaside resort of Punta del Este on the coast of Uruguay, he meets a beautiful woman. As they walk along the beach, they come across the colony of penguins just like in the book version– their bodies covered in oil.

In this version, when Michell rescues this penguin that is frantically beating its wings to get to its feet, he unintentionally ends up adopting this sole surviving penguin and taking him back to the hotel room for a bath. The penguin grows fond of him and follows him around everywhere, resulting in Michell explaining himself to animal-friendly empathetic humans on his way, from tourists to immigration officers.

Once he is back in Buenos Aires, he seemingly accepts that he has a penguin for a pet. With the assistance of the school’s no-nonsense housekeeper (Vivian El Jaber) and her rebellious, patriotic young granddaughter (Alfonsina Carrocio), the penguin gets a family. This family is extended as the boys at the boarding school and the other faculty members also find consolation in feeding and conversing with the penguin.

Meanwhile, the housekeeper’s granddaughter “disappears” one day after a grocery store run, hunted for her overtly controversial political views. As Michell tries to overcome the guilt of not attempting to save someone who reminds him of his late daughter, the world of everyone around begins to unravel. Everybody races to correct the situation, seeking solace in the comfort of talking to the penguin.

This movie is surprisingly comedic and riveting simply due to the nonchalant attitude of the two protagonists– Michell and the penguin. Despite the innumerable numerous moments, there are extremely sentimental moments that would undeniably capture the hearts of the viewers. An element of an unsettling thriller is introduced when you combine that with the depiction of the political situation in Argentina in the 1970s. What will happen finally? Will the penguin be safe and live long? Will the granddaughter return?

Watch it to discover an authentic portrayal of 1970s Argentina from a British perspective if nothing else.