Run time: 112 mins

Steve Coogan and one defiant penguin charm their way through Argentina’s dark chapter in this quietly affecting, oddly irresistible true story.

Directed by Peter Cattaneo and written by Jeff Pope, The Penguin Lessons is based on Tom Michell’s popular memoir and delivers an unexpected mix of warmth, wit and political undercurrents.

Set in 1976, the film follows Tom, an English teacher at an elite Argentine boarding school, whose sterile life is upended when he rescues a small, oil-slicked Magellanic penguin while vacationing in Uruguay. What begins as an impulsive act to impress a glamorous woman quickly spirals into something deeper. Unable to release the bird (soon named Juan Salvador), Tom sneaks him back to school, where their unlikely bond begins to change not only Tom, but those around him.

Coogan brings understated charm and emotional nuance to a character who in other hands might’ve felt too familiar. His chemistry with the scene-stealing penguin is disarmingly sincere. Juan Salvador becomes more than a companion, he’s a quiet mirror to the surrounding unrest and Tom’s own guarded heart.

With surprising depth and impact, this is a waddling delight