The Substitute

The Substitute (1996) is an action thriller you can watch online on iFILM, about a mercenary who trades his rifle for a piece of classroom chalk. Shale has spent years fighting on contract and now finds himself sidelined after leaving the agency.

When his girlfriend Jane, a Miami schoolteacher, is beaten by a street gang, Shale takes over her class undercover as a substitute. Inside he uncovers more than rowdy teens: a crew called the Kings of Destruction runs drugs through the halls, and someone bigger is pulling the strings. Tom Berenger plays the stone-faced veteran, Ernie Hudson is the school principal, and Luis Guzman and William Forsythe are the old comrades Shale calls in for one last job.

Director Robert Mandel blends a high-school drama with blunt mid-90s action. The film spawned several sequels, but this first entry stays the toughest of the bunch. Stream The Substitute (1996) online on iFILM.