With the release of “Brave the Dark,” about a teacher taking a special interest in a troubled young man’s life, it brought to mind the other many films about inspiring teachers and the young minds they shape, whether based on a true story or not. Since the kids are back in school, let’s take a look at some of the best movies about teachers using unorthodox methods to connect with students.

The subgenre has been popular since the early days of cinema, with “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” from 1939, a well-established classic. Robert Donat won the Academy Award for this film about a teacher looking back on the many students’ lives he touched over the course of his career. Stream it on BritBox or rent it on iTunes/Amazon.

Sidney Poitier was also memorable in “To Sir, With Love,” from 1967, another hugely influential film on the genre, about a British Guyanese teacher wrangling control over a classroom of East London delinquents (which included singer Lulu in a role). Rent it it on iTunes or Amazon.

These films provide the blueprint for other movies that flourished in the 1980s and ‘90s, like “Stand and Deliver,” from 1988, starring Edward James Olmos and Lou Diamond Phillips in the true story of Jaime Escalante, a calculus teacher in East Los Angeles who manages to connect with his students. Olmos was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the film directed by Ramón Menéndez. Rent it on iTunes/Amazon.

This formula was also used in films like “Dangerous Minds” (1995), starring Michelle Pfeiffer as a former Marine turned teacher, which also gave us the classic Coolio tune “Gangsta’s Paradise,” and “Freedom Writers” (2007) with Hilary Swank in the teacher role. Rent both on iTunes or Amazon.

Robin Williams movies could also make up a subset of the subgenre, with his turns in the 1989 film “Dead Poets Society,” directed by Peter Weir, where the troubled kids are a pack of prep school boys, and Williams is their unconventional English teacher. The film co-stars Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Josh Charles, who have gone on to long careers. Rent it on iTunes. In 1997, Williams had matriculated to Harvard, where he mentored the genius janitor played by Matt Damon in Gus Van Sant’s “Good Will Hunting.” Damon and Ben Affleck won the Oscar for their debut script. Watch it on Prime Video or rent it elsewhere.

Richard Dreyfuss starred in the 1995 film “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” about a musician who redefines his life’s purpose through teaching (stream it on Hulu), and Richard Linklater’s 2003 film “School of Rock” could be seen as a similar take on the material, with Jack Black as a rowdy rocker who teaches a group of elementary school kids to shred (stream it on Paramount+ or rent it elsewhere).

Finally, the charming “Akeelah and the Bee” was the debut of precious Keke Palmer and made her a star, as a young girl who becomes a spelling champion. Lawrence Fishburne and Angela Bassett co-star. Rent it on iTunes and Amazon.

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