- A teacher struggles to control a rumor spreading around his elementary school by one greedy child.
- As the rumours of a deranged killer lurking in the woods spread like wildfire, an elementary school teacher vainly tries to reason with his students. It all started when Sid, a selfish little brat, claimed that he honestly saw the dangerous pervert hiding in the shadows. And as a result, the situation soon spiralled out of control. However, what fate awaits the boy who cried wolf?—Nick Riganas
- A man leaves his house and walks to his car. As he opens the door, he opens the narration with the sentence: "There's a man in the woods."
This one sentence, he says, started it all, at what was once a respectable school where he was a teacher. During recess, kids would run down the hill to the edge of the nearby forest, picking honeysuckle for treats. But one greedy, selfish, obnoxious child, Sid, didn't want to share; he wanted to hoard them all for himself. So one day, he announces, "There's a man in the woods!" and begins to spread tales of a dangerous killer lurking in the forest, waiting to prey on the young children. As the children's imagination begins to run wild, the teacher tries to reassure them that the stories are untrue. Despite his best efforts, Sid's persistence begins to fuel all his fellow kids' fears, and they begin to think they see things in the forest themselves. The teacher continues to try his best to reason with his students, but their fears rule their emotions, and they stop playing at the edge of the woods; all except Sid, who enjoys a monopoly over the honeysuckle flower treats.
The kids tell their parents about this man in the woods, and all the parents immediately bombard the beleaguered teacher with insistent demands that he do more to protect the children. Alone against an angry mob, the teacher protests in desperation that he cannot comb the woods himself to search for this supposed man ("Would you?" he asks the audience in his narration), and that the kids are safe, that the rumors are only perpetuated by fear. All the teacher's pleas fall on deaf ears; all the parents refusing to believe that their little babies can do any wrong in the school. Increasingly belligerent demands by the school P.T.A. turn to threats against the school board, ultimatums that parents will begin pulling their children out unless something is done. Caving to the tidal wave, the board dismisses the teacher from his job.
Termination doesn't end the fallen teacher's troubles; he is ostracized as a failure to the neighborhood's innocent children, unfit to work in the education field or any field that involves children. He is completely disgraced in the eyes of all the parents.
Alone, unwelcome and increasingly bewildered at how he's been treated as a criminal, the ex-teacher watches the school board enact strict rules to 'protect' the children. He turns to cocaine and alcohol to drown his sorrow; his personal demons tormenting him relentlessly.
Humiliation gives way to anger. The ex-teacher knows how much he gave in the name of teaching. More and more bitter, he insists the children were lucky to have him. Now he wants revenge, and he knows who to blame.
The story comes full circle as the monster the neighborhood feared, is now brought to life by their own actions. The ex-teacher glares at young Sid with hate, as the boy gathers more honeysuckle at the forest edge. Stepping into view, the ex-teacher reaches into an inside pocket of his coat, darkly reminding young Sid, "There's a man in the woods."
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![There's a Man in the Woods (2014)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTkzMmE5MTAtNTJiMi00ZTE0LTgxNDgtYmEzMjM4NTk5Zjg4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjExNjgyMTc@._V1_QL75_UY133_CR2,0,90,133_.jpg)
Top Gap
By what name was There's a Man in the Woods (2014) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer