• Release year: 2026
• Director: Sophie Heldman.
• Producers: Bettina Brokemper and Karin Koch.
• Screenplay by: Lillian Faderman, Sophie Heldman, Flora Nicholson.
• Cinematography by: Kate Reid.
• Music by: Balz Bachmann.

Shotgun Commentary: An absolute blood boiler.

Review

The Education of Jane Cumming speaks volumes of the destructive power a young woman can have as well as the sheer horror the patriarchy has of women as a whole. If you are in the mood to get angry—angry to the point of biting chunks out of a couch—this is the movie you’ve been waiting for. It does not portray female rage; it incites it.

The events

The story follows Jane Pirie (Flora Nicholson) and Marianne Woods (Clare Dunne), two governesses who decide to found a school together in Edinburgh. One day, Lady Cumming Gordon (Fiona Shaw), a wealthy investor, brings in her three grandchildren to study, along with a substantial amount of money and the spreading of her personal recommendation around the community so they will receive more students.

However, one of the granddaughters, Jane Cumming (Mia Tharia), feels left out due to her immigrant status and the illegitimacy of her origins. She tries to connect with the girls, but her efforts are often derailed. In the end, she only feels connected to her two teachers, who reject her offer to stay in the school for good and learn from them how to be a teacher. This rejection prompts her to retaliate by accusing them of having an affair to her grandmother.

Beware the big bad teen

Few stories portray the destructive power of a few key words whispered in the right ear. On the one hand, the topic of teenage girls scorned—earlier mentioned this week in Penny Lane Is Dead (2025)—finds here yet another approach. Outside of horror, this particular topic always ends up with the teen in question being the villain, and this feature is no exception. Sure, you are provided with more than enough extenuating circumstances to justify her behaviour, but at the end of the day, you will feel that inner murderous rage that these he-said-she-said narratives tend to provoke.

Then again, how is it that a teenage girl has so much power with just a couple of words? The answer is easy: society has no problem tearing women down, especially when they are trying to make something of themselves. Pirie and Woods did not so much as get the chance to defend themselves before Lady Cumming Gordon destroyed their lives. It is a depressing fact that anyone trying to create something new and innovate in society will be met with a substantial amount of prejudice and rejection. As such, it comes as no surprise that this film is actually based on true events.

Must-read before watching

Still, as far as the feature’s approach to the real story goes, it is definitely milder than expected. If you read the synopsis anywhere, you might come to the conclusion that this will be a period legal drama. It very much is not. In fact, there is very little legal talk and absolutely no trial footage whatsoever. The film focuses on the events that led Jane to do something so heinous to two completely innocent women who had done nothing but help her and take care of her. Morbidity is surpassed by empathy, setting the story apart from any other films with similar topics.

All in all, The Education of Jane Cumming is a handbook on how to transform sweet, young girls into spiteful, lying women who grow up to see the world as a cruel place in which being cruel is the only way to survive.

The Education of Jane Cumming has had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Never underestimate the destructive power of a scorned child.
• If you want to get away with anything, you need to be rich first.
• Children are not aware of their cruelty. Beware children.

What’s your take? Have you watched The Education of Jane Cumming? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message on my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀