The film romanticises and sympathises with the main character; her struggles; and ultimately her solace in a 12 / 13 year-old boy. This retelling is supposedly quite accurate to the real-life incident.
The actress committed to the difficult role and plays her as emotionally vulnerable, and even likable, but perhaps with a hint of confused-delusional thinking. When the teacher is falling for the boy the film's score swiftly tells us it's wrong. Thus, in some sense, you could say the film is balanced in attempting to portray this woman's sense of mind, as well as society's split feelings. In any case, it mostly makes for uncomfortable viewing with a TV-movie sheen negating some of its sting.
The actress committed to the difficult role and plays her as emotionally vulnerable, and even likable, but perhaps with a hint of confused-delusional thinking. When the teacher is falling for the boy the film's score swiftly tells us it's wrong. Thus, in some sense, you could say the film is balanced in attempting to portray this woman's sense of mind, as well as society's split feelings. In any case, it mostly makes for uncomfortable viewing with a TV-movie sheen negating some of its sting.