An Education

A 2009 British Coming of Age Drama film, set in 1961 London.

Sixteen-year-old Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is attending school, preparing for her A-levels and hoping to go to Oxford. One day, she meets an older man named David (Peter Sarsgaard), who charms her into a romance, distracting from her schoolwork. David introduces her to a whole new world out of her little suburb--a world of nightclubs, auctions for beautiful paintings, racing, and romance. Jenny soon has to make a choice between the academic world she's always prepared for--and the world of fun.

But little does she know how much David is hiding...

"Helen: You have a French conversation teacher? Is that why you suddenly speak French? For no reason?"
 * All That Glitters: Nearing the climax of the film,
 * Ascended Fangirl: When David takes Jenny to Paris.
 * Beneath the Mask
 * Beta Couple: Helen and Danny.
 * Bittersweet Ending/Earn Your Happy Ending:
 * Brainy Brunette Jenny is a genuine smart cookie. This is a contrast to Dumb Blonde Helen.
 * Break the Cutie
 * Bumbling Dad: Just a tad bit.
 * Butt Monkey: Graham, whom Jenny's father refers to as a "wandering Jew" (whether he's actually a Jew is beside the point). Overlaps with The Woobie.
 * Bridal Carry: David and Jenny shortly before
 * Chekhov's Classroom: The discussions of Jane Eyre in Jenny's English class.
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * David's letters in the glove compartment of his car are shown several times before it's importance is revealed.
 * David helps out a black family move into an apartment. Jenny sees an old woman looking out of the window. Both are plot-relevant.
 * The Charmer/Chivalrous Pervert: David has signs of both.
 * Christmas Cake: Miss Stubbs. And Jenny rubs her face in it.
 * Coming of Age Story
 * Contrived Coincidence: Jenny meeting David.
 * Dance of Romance: David and Jenny waltzing in the street and later in Paris.
 * Dawson Casting: 20-something Carrey Mulligan as 16-year-old Jenny.
 * Did Not Get the Girl
 * Dogged Nice Guy: Graham.
 * Double Entendre: When Jenny expresses an interest in seeing France, David replies that he'd love to take her, and there's "so much" he wants her to see. Cue Danny and Helen exchanging an uncomfortable glance.
 * Dumb Blonde: Helen.
 * Education Papa
 * Escapism
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Jenny wears her hair in sophisticated updos when she's with David and his friends, but goes back to her usual girlish hairstyle--representing the fact that for all her attempts at seeming grown-up, that she is still really a child--both when she's at home or at school, and once she discovers his deception and the relationship ends.
 * Foreshadowing: Frequent discussion of Jane Eyre in Jenny's English class.
 * Gratuitous French: Used often by Jenny, out of the blue and lampshaded bluntly by Helen:
 * Gratuitous French: Used often by Jenny, out of the blue and lampshaded bluntly by Helen:

"Miss Stubbs: You sound very old and wise.
 * Green-Eyed Monster: David claims Danny is this when he doesn't seem too pleased by ; Danny just didn't want Jenny to get hurt because both Helen and he knew
 * Hard Work Montage
 * Horrible Judge of Character: Even after learning of David's shady business, Jenny continues to be strung along by David until the climax.
 * I Just Want to Be Special: Jenny is attracted to David and his adventurous life, full of concerts, jazz music, and parties, in comparison to her apparent "boring" life, full of attending school, studying for Oxford, and reading Latin.
 * Ironic Echo: Of sorts. David takes Jenny to Paris, a place she has always wanted to go to, as she loves French books, films, and music.
 * Jewish and Nerdy/Nice Jewish Boy: Graham. That is, if he's really Jewish.
 * Karma Houdini:
 * Kick the Dog:
 * Leitmotif: A recurring theme played throughout the film plays hints to David and his schemes.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: David is a gender-flipped version for Jenny.
 * May-December Romance
 * Moment Killer: The banana.
 * Mood Whiplash: Several scenes. Often, whenever the music changes tone is a hint to David's shady schemes.
 * Motive Decay: An in-universe example. Jenny wants to attend Oxford so that she can study and read English. After being exposed to David and his much more attractive life (and at the approval of her parents), Jenny gives this up This decision comes back to bite her.
 * My God, What Have I Done?:
 * Never Trust a Trailer: The segment that the trailer showed of Emma Thompson's character made her seem like a rather stern but not unkind mentor--"You must think I'm a ruined woman." "Oh, no. You're not a woman." Not so in the actual movie.
 * The Not-Secret: Rather, they didn't even try to keep it a secret. Seriously, when your headmistress knows you are doing something very wrong.
 * One Dialogue, Two Conversations: While Jenny and Danny are dancing, they have a discussion about art. Or at least, this is what Jenny thinks. Danny is really subtly warning Jenny that David isn't what he seems.
 * Overprotective Dad: Jenny's dad obviously dislikes Jenny's suitor Graham and is initially a bit wary of David, but David's charm easily persuades him.
 * Playing Against Type:
 * Emma Thompson appears as a ruthless and anti-Semitic schoolmistress.
 * Rosamund Pike as Dumb Blonde Helen is a particularly odd example, not just because Pike normally plays intelligent ice queens, but because in real life Rosamund Pike basically is who Jenny wants to be (trained cellist, bilingual in French, and studied English Literature at Oxford).
 * Plot-Sensitive Snooping Skills
 * Plucky Girl
 * The Reveal:
 * Sorry I Left the BGM On: Whenever a French song plays in the background, it's most likely this.
 * Spoiled Sweet: Though Helen can be quite blunt at times, she becomes fast friends with Jenny and is relatively nice to her.
 * Those Two Guys: Jenny's friends, Hattie and Tina. They're a great Greek Chorus for Jenny's ego, hanging on every detail of her romance, but then either she dumps them or they dump her because they're never seen again. Though, it might be because
 * A deleted scene would have shown Jenny apologising to them for being a bad friend after The Reveal.
 * A Tragedy of Impulsiveness
 * Uptight Loves Wild: That's Jenny and David's relationship at first.
 * What The Hell Hero?:
 * Jenny pulls this twice of David for his shady business (but she gets over it quickly) and ; she also pulls this on Danny, who always knew about the latter. Danny counters this by reminding Jenny that she didn't think too much of their shady business either.
 * Jenny's teacher and headmistress both question Jenny on her May-December Romance on more than one occasion. And Jenny pushes right back.
 * Wise Beyond Her Years: Jenny seems pretty sure that she's this.  And she lampshades it in this exchange with Miss Stubbs:
 * Wise Beyond Her Years: Jenny seems pretty sure that she's this.  And she lampshades it in this exchange with Miss Stubbs:

Jenny: I feel old, but not very wise."


 * A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing: David.
 * Wrong Guy First