Based on the memoir of the same title by British writer Tom Michell, The Penguin Lessons begins with the story of unhappy and disillusioned Tom, who travels to Argentina in 1976 to work as a teacher on the eve of the military coup. Expecting no difficulties since he will be teaching English, Tom finds himself facing a politically polarized nation and exasperated students. On a trip to Uruguay with Tapio, the school’s science teacher, he meets a bird that will change his life. The two teachers rescue a penguin covered in oil and, rather than handing it over to the authorities, secretly bring it into Argentina. After learning from Maria, his housekeeper, and her granddaughter Sofia about the poor conditions in local zoos, Tom decides to care for the penguin himself.

Director Peter Cattaneo, just as in his breakout debut The Full Monty, once again blends British humor with social-realist drama. The Penguin Lessons is filled with moments of love for life, while also shedding light on the deep wounds caused by military coups that crush human lives.