This National Geographic documentary follows rock climber Alex Honnold’s attempt to become the first person to complete a free solo climb of the El Capitan wall in Yosemite Valley. The ‘free’ part means he has no ropes or other safety gear to catch him if he slips, and ‘solo’ means it’s just him and an imposingly sheer cliff face nearly a kilometre high.

Free Solo won this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, as well as a slew of other accolades and acclaim. It combines the elements of suspense with a detailed and intimate portrayal of an athlete prepared to redefine the limits of human physical and mental endurance – as well as stunning, invigorating cinematography that must be seen on the big screen.

Lisa (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is 40-year-old Staten Island kindergarten teacher who is dissatisfied with her life, and a frustrated part-time poet too. After overhearing a five-year-old boy (Parker Sevak) in her class reciting poems that he seemingly made up on the spot, she is convinced he is a child prodigy and sets out to nurture his talent – by any means necessary. When her determination to see him succeed puts her marriage, career, and even her freedom at risk, she begins to question whose needs she is really serving.

Based on the 2014 Israeli film of the same name, The Kindergarten Teacher features a masterful performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal that gives the film its provocative power. Writer-director Sarah Colangelo also won a directing award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018.