Alice Rohrwacher turns a short-format school story into a wry little fable about who gets called well-behaved and who doesn't.
What is The Pupils about?
The Pupils follows a class of Italian schoolgirls through the small rituals and quiet rebellions of a single stretch of school life, told with the same offbeat, observational eye Rohrwacher brings to her feature work. The film leans into the comedy of childhood social order — who is praised, who is scolded, who is quietly written off as trouble — before turning that order on its head. Its short runtime keeps the focus tight: a handful of girls, a handful of adults watching them, and a closing turn that reframes everything the film has shown as more mischievous than it first appears. It is a family-friendly comedy with a satirical edge aimed as much at adult viewers as at younger ones.
About the cast
Alba Rohrwacher and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi anchor the adult cast, joined by a young ensemble including Melissa Falasconi, Carmen Pommella, Greta Zuccheri Montanari, and Tatiana Lepore, with Luciano Vergaro and Carlo Tarmati rounding out the cast. The film's short format keeps the ensemble compact, letting individual performances stand out within a small number of scenes.
Context & significance
Alice Rohrwacher, known internationally for feature-length work exploring rural Italian life, made this shorter piece in a family-comedy register that is lighter in tone but shares her interest in overlooked characters and quiet social observation. Released in 2022, it sits comfortably as a compact watch for viewers who want a complete story without a long time commitment.
Watching The Pupils on Ktime
The Pupils is available to stream on K-Time with a free account login; the film's page is open to browse without one. This title carries a Persian dub, so Farsi-speaking viewers can watch without relying on subtitles, all within an interface built entirely in Farsi for the Persian-speaking diaspora.