The Teachers’ Lounge

A rash of thefts unsettles a German secondary school when the school strikes back with a witch-hunt that targets a racially vulnerable student who turns out to be innocent. Meanwhile, an idealistic teacher singles out an administrator as the possible culprit. Her son, in turn, retaliates with a vicious whispering campaign against his mother’s accuser. The film is a closely observed study of pathological paranoia, while serving as an allegory to a variety of nasty social movements given to scapegoating their enemies. Or maybe not, since no one’s guilt, or innocence is firmly established. Germany’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2024 Oscars.