Monsieur Lazhar
“No matter where you go... there you are”
2011 · 1 h 35 min
Directed by 
Philippe Falardeau
Philippe FalardeauCast
Mohamed Fellag Sophie Nélisse Émilien Néron Danielle Proulx Marie-Ève Beauregard Vincent Millard
Credits
Written by: Philippe Falardeau
Plot
A substitute teacher from Algeria takes over a Montreal elementary class whose teacher died by suicide, and helps the children grieve while hiding his own pain.
Sinekatalog’s take
A gentle, humane and moving school drama.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.
Ratings
IMDb: 7.5 / 10 (21,978 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.
If you liked this
Picked by director, genre, era and shared cast. Titles only, no spoilers.
- The Holdovers 2023 · Alexander Payne · IMDb 7.9 · Viewers also liked
- Small Change 1976 · François Truffaut · IMDb 7.6 · Viewers also liked
- Congorama 2006 · Philippe Falardeau · IMDb 7.1 · Same director
- The Sweet Hereafter 1997 · Atom Egoyan · IMDb 7.4 · Viewers also liked
- C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) 2005 · Jean-Marc Vallée · IMDb 7.8 · Same movement
- Take This Waltz 2011 · Sarah Polley · IMDb 6.5 · Same movement