The Tutor is a 2023 American mystery thriller film written by Ryan King and directed by Jordan Ross. Released on March 24, 2023, it stars Garrett Hedlund, Noah Schnapp, Jonny Weston and Victoria Justice.
It was added to Netflix on July 8, 2023.
Tropes present in the film:
- Asshole Victim: In the beginning of the film, Ethan is portrayed as a dedicated and talented employee of a tutor agency in a stable relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, Annie. As the film continues, it is revealed through a conversation between Annie and her friend that Ethan cheated on Annie at an artists' retreat with a sculptor. He is shown in a scene at a restaurant loudly and unprofessionally criticizing his 17-year-old tutoring student, Jackson, for having a "psychotic, bipolar breakdown", making his dining companions uncomfortable. We ultimately learn that Ethan murdered a previous girlfriend five years before the start of the film.
- Big Fancy House: The house Jackson lives in is a massive, sprawling Federal-style mansion somewhere in the suburbs of New York City. Similarly, a montage of Ethan tutoring his students in the beginning of the film reveals all of his students are from very wealthy families with large properties.
- Cast Full of Rich People: Ethan only tutors upper-class elite students. Jackson and his family are presumably extremely wealthy; Ethan is offered $2,500 a day for his tutoring by Jackson's family, there are at least three giant mansions shown in the film, and a butler appears at the mansion residence in traditional butler livery. It is later revealed in the film that the Federal-style mansion does not belong to Jackson's family, but his actual family's mansion is an expensive lakefront property. While not shown to be as exorbitantly wealthy as the rest of the cast, Ethan and Annie are moving into a pricey looking brownstone in Brooklyn in the beginning of the film.
- Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are: Ethan "plays a game" of this with Jackson. It is embellished by Ethan slowly walking in the hallway, blow poke in hand, telling an anecdote about playing "hot and cold" with his mother as a child while Jackson is shown hiding and silently crying in terror.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Jackson shoots Ethan from behind after Ethan implies to Annie that he is going to kill her because she overheard Ethan's confession to murder.
- Creepy Child: Jackson is a mysterious 17-year old kid in a somewhat old-timey wardrobe who is mostly silent unless spoken to at the beginning of the film and is shown staring wordlessly though windows and doors at Ethan. He walks rigidly and robotically, and his face barely shows any emotion. He stalks Ethan, exhibiting creepy behavior such as revealing that he knows personal information about Ethan in casual conversation, awkwardly laying his head on Ethan's knee uninvited, and silently appearing at Ethan's dinner table in a restaurant in New York City and standing there until someone notices him. Ethan finds photos of himself on Jackson's laptop.
- He Knows Too Much: Almost spoken word for word by Ethan when Annie overhears his confession.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: It is unclear why Jackson is stalking Ethan and attempting to ruin his entire life. Near the end of the movie, it becomes clear that Jackson is seeking revenge for the unsolved murder of his mother, in which he believes Ethan to be the perpetrator.
- Instant Sedation: Ethan eats some fruit at Jackson's apartment in the city, almost instantly becoming disoriented and passing out. He later wakes up after being thrown into a lake from a boat.
- Poor Communication Kills: Ethan is initially pretty tight-lipped about how creepy and stalkerish Jackson is. Instead of informing his employer or choosing to leave, he continues tutoring Jackson. He only mentions that he found clandestinely photographed pictures of himself and Annie on Jackson's laptop when prompted for information about what his current job is like at a casual dinner with friends. When he is drugged and wakes up submerged in a lake, nearly drowning, he simply hitchhikes back home to New York City and doesn't explain himself when he walks into his apartment, although Annie has approached him with worry. He only tells her that he was drugged and thrown into a lake when she mentions that he is sopping wet. At this point, she doesn't believe him.
- Rage Breaking Point: Ethan is eventually pushed to the brink of sanity by Jackson's stalking and harassing behavior. He strangles Gavin to death with a blow poke and ends up stalking Jackson, intent on killing him in his own home. Annie walks in on him in the midst of a furious rage, smashing the blow poke against the ground in an attempt to terrify Jackson and screaming a murder confession.
