The Supply Teacher

The Supply Teacher is the debut by director, co-writer and actor Bryan Lamb – and what a debut it is. The film is also co-written by the cinematographer and editor Jack R H O’Sullivan. This is an incredibly affecting drama concerned with current issues within an educational setting. Our protagonist is Robin (played most empathetically by Nick Field), a supply teacher who returns to his old school to teach some Shakespeare. Robin meets Alfie (played by Lamb himself in a deeply emotional performance), a young, neurodivergent person who’s struggling with the discriminative verbal abuse perpetrated by his school bully.

This is an impressively prescient screenplay, filled with social complexity and upsetting power dynamics. What seems to be a tragically common in-school occurrence quickly reveals itself to be an explicit injustice when we discover that the bully is the son of the school principal who’s continuing to enable and excuse his son’s behaviour. Not only this, for he also attempts to paint Alfie as a compulsive liar, further muddying the water. The Supply Teacher becomes a story of discovery for two neurodivergent people – Robin and Alfie – one of whom must come to realise the realities of some deep-rooted prejudice; the other must find the strength to stand up against his oppressors.

So, whilst it is on one hand quite a disturbing and realistic portrayal of in-school injustice, it is also a narrative which provides answers, as well as a sense of hope. The audience is given a couple of thought-provoking examples of how one can challenge authority when these systems, meant to protect the most vulnerable, completely fail at the first hurdle. The titular supply teacher’s journey is perhaps the most fascinating in this regard, as he turns to his husband who’s writing an article about bullying. It’s a very interesting example of someone taking an issue into their own hands when desperate circumstances call for it – the sharing of information so as to provide consolation to those out there who really need it.

Just to touch on the film’s formal aspects, this is definitely a competently made movie. You can maybe tell in some places that this is a debut project – visually, it sometimes lacks a bit of depth, for instance. But there’s also plenty to be impressed with on a technical and directorial level. One example of this is how and when close-ups are implemented into the visual language and blocking. For moments that perhaps lack any deeper relevance, the shot remains wide and unbroken (such as Robin’s introductory small-talk with another teacher); whereas, when a situation becomes confrontational, the style of shots aptly shifts into a face-on, shot-reverse-shot sensibility. This is simple yet effective, and a clear sign of real directorial ability.

To surmise, there are a great many messages to take from the scenarios depicted in The Supply Teacher. It also feels as if it’s contributing to a long line of confrontational pieces of social realism – you could certainly draw parallels to a dramatist like Ken Loach, for example. All to say that this is a truly engaging debut project and one that shows creative promise for any future works by Lamb.