The Substitute

The Substitute is a 1993 American thriller drama television film directed by Martin Donovan, written by David S. Goyer (under the pseudonym Cynthia Verlaine), and starring Amanda Donohoe as a murderous high school substitute teacher. The film also stars Dalton James, Natasha Gregson Wagner, and Mark Wahlberg (credited as Marky Mark) in his first acting role. It premiered on the USA Network on September 22, 1993. Plot In Albany, New York, high school English teacher Gayle Richards finds out that her husband Doug is cheating on her with Claire, one of her students. She murders both him and his mistress in an outburst of rage, sets their house on fire, and flees into the night. One year later, Gayle has moved to Baker Springs, Minnesota, and takes a job as a substitute English teacher at another high school under the assumed name Laura Ellington. One of the students, Josh Wyatt, becomes infatuated with "Laura" and on her first day, he gives her a ride back to her motel room where she seduces him, but discards him the following day. As the scorned Josh seeks to find a way to get revenge against Laura for using him, she meets and begins having an affair of her own with Josh's widowed father, Ben, who is also infatuated with the mysterious and attractive teacher. While Josh seeks to keep his brief tryst with Laura a secret, he also recruits his unsuspecting girlfriend, Jenny, to help him find any evidence against Laura when she moves into the house across the street from him and his father. Things become more complicated when news about her past starts to reemerge, forcing Laura to embark on yet another killing spree to protect her identity and her crimes. When Laura learns that the teacher she is substituting for will be returning early, she breaks into her house and shoves her down a staircase, causing the teacher to die from a heart attack. But Laura is witnessed entering the house by one trouble-making student, named Ryan Westerberg, who attempts to blackmail her. However, Laura kills Ryan and covers it up to make it look like a gang killing.