Preschool Movie Ending Explained: Who Gets Into The School, Dylan Or Grace?

In “Preschool,” two fathers go toe-to-toe with each other, all to secure a spot at a prestigious school for their child. Most of the movie centers around these two men giving each other a run for their money when it comes to being stupid. They mock and threaten each other, and even have a full-blown fistfight by the end, while their wives, both rational and level-headed, try to talk some sense into them. The Josh Duhamel-directed movie is ultimately sweet in nature, as it finds a pretty wholesome solution by the end. Duhamel also plays one of the fathers; but it’s Michael Socha, who plays the other guy, who steals the majority of the scenes.

Spoilers Ahead

What happens in the movie? 

“Preschool” begins with the birth of Grace and Dylan, as their fathers, Alan and Brian, make a promise to lay the world at their feet. Coming from money, Alan is determined to fulfill every wish of his daughter, whereas Brian wants to ensure his son gets a quality education at a prestigious preschool, which he never had. Both the families reach Puggsley, a high-end preschool where it is very difficult to find a place. The principal, Mrs. Lawrence, lets them know that the school liked both their applications, but the issue is there’s only one slot available, effectively meaning only one of the children can find a place. To decide fairly, Mrs. Lawrence asks both the families to write a thesis on their kids, which will be duly followed by a presentation by the fathers. This immediately puts Alan and Brian in extreme competitive mode. Their wives, Lauren and Sarah, seem pretty chill, though; they even strike up a friendship. Mainly thanks to that, the families decide to be friends instead of being at each other’s throats. As a result, Alan and Lauren invite Brian and Sarah to their house for dinner and also to meet Grace. While Sarah gladly accepts, Brian decides to use this as an opportunity to scope out the competition his son is going to face.

Do Alan and Brian become friends?

Considering the kind of lunacy these two men showcase in the opening twenty minutes, you know for a fact that things can only get crazier. Upon visiting Alan’s swanky house, Brian finds himself extremely jealous of the rich guy. Alan flaunts his wealth a bit too much and ends up offering a hefty amount to Brian on the condition that he withdraws Dylan from the race. Brian, who has way too much pride, flatly refuses the offer, making Alan mad. That said, Brian can’t help but appreciate the custard tart little Grace has prepared; the girl is literally the perfect kid. Brian feels a lot better when he gets to know that the house actually belongs to Lauren, as she inherited it from her rich father. Alan may have all the riches, but he only has them because of his marriage to Lauren.

In comparison, Brian is a totally self-made man who has a construction business that he built from scratch. However, Brian holds a grudge against his father, Joe, who didn’t put quite enough effort into his education. What bothers him even more is his brother Jeff got a better deal education-wise and ended up way more successful. Jeff is now a DJ who has his own studio. Despite his son having it out for him, Joe is pretty cool, and throughout the movie he keeps asking Brian to take things less seriously. But Brian is in no mood to do that, which explains why he would hire an out-of-work scriptwriter to write the thesis for Dylan. Obviously, that turns out to be a terrible decision, as the kind of crap—projecting the boy as an alpha male mainly—the guy comes up with is unmatchable. Thankfully for Brian, his wife comes to the rescue as she writes a beautifully nuanced application for their kid. 

The rivalry between the two fathers keeps heating up as the families go on another day out, this time to sail in Jeff’s boat. That’s actually a sham, as Jeff doesn’t exactly let his brother use the boat, so Brian has to come up with an elaborate ploy to deceive Alan and Lauren. To make up for it, Brian takes everyone out playing padel, and the two men expectedly get a bit too intense, resulting in Alan injuring one of his fingers. When Brian goes to submit the thesis as Puggsley, he takes a glimpse at the other thesis and gets insecure because of how it looks—with Grace’s photo and achievements highlighted. He soon finds out about Alan and Mrs. Lawrence taking lunch together, which is clearly the rich guy buttering up the principal. This infuriates Brian, so he decides to teach Alan a lesson by taking a group of unruly elderly people to Alan’s new restaurant opening and spoiling it. In Brian’s defense, he does make an offer to Alan—back out of the preschool race, and his restaurant will be saved. Needless to say, Alan refuses. 

Why do the two men have the fight?

Given how things were going, a big fight was always on the cards. Realizing Alan has the upper hand over him, Brian tries to poach this children’s entertainer group, the Wild and Crazies, to perform with him during the presentation. Instead, he makes a fool of himself and ends up in prison after having an altercation with one of the Crazies. That said, Brian does manage to give a rather heartfelt presentation in Puggsley, that too after coming without any preparation, as he’s fresh out of jail. His presentation is mainly about how he wants to give his son the freedom of choice that he never had. Puggsley basically is the stepping stone to a full course of education, at the end of which Dylan will be in a position to make any career choice he likes. The board is moved by Brian’s presentation, but Alan follows it by putting in a lot of showmanship, as he brings none other than the Wild and Crazies. 

Alan takes things a notch higher by shutting down Brian’s construction company by using his influence. That, however, is nothing in comparison to putting a spider in Brian’s car. For Brian, who has entomophobia—which the film does show from time to time—it’s no less than death. Despite Sarah asking him to calm down, Brian panics and ends up getting one side of his face all swollen and looking horrible. An enraged Brian goes to Alan’s house and breaks a statue outside—Lauren hated it anyway—and the two men engage in a very physical fight, which doesn’t last, thanks to their wives intervening. Sarah and Lauren make it clear they have had enough of the tomfoolery, and the men need to sort things out. That appears to work, as Brian and Alan finally have a mostly proper heart-to-heart at the hospital. Alan admits that he’s jealous of Brian because Brian actually achieved everything he has, unlike him, who got it without much effort. That’s also the reason he wants Grace to reach a point, from where she can do everything by herself.

Who gets into the school, Dylan or Grace?

You know for a fact that this hardly matters. Especially when Sarah points out to Brian that it’s more about him (and his giant-sized ego) than his son, you realize what this movie is actually trying to do. If I have to put it in words, then this is a story serving as a critique of parents trying to put their kids in mindless rat races and losing themselves to it. The way Puggsley is shown, in a very all-business and no-fun manner, further proves it. If either Grace or Dylan got into the preschool by the end, it would have defeated the purpose of the whole movie, especially after their father realized their mistakes. So when Mrs. Lawrence lets them know that the slot is no longer available because she has to accommodate a nepo kid, both Brian and Alan are relieved. They no longer want their kids to be part of this madness. And in case you think the availability of another preschool right outside the Puggsley gate is a bit too convenient, I would say that’s kind of a necessity. The cherry on top is the kids going to that preschool and making things at home themselves. Unlike Pugsley, this place actually seems to have all the heart. 

“Preschool” ends on a wholesome note, with Joe getting married to Grace’s nanny, Roze; that’s a subplot that I thought was really extra as it doesn’t add much value to the narrative. The same goes for Joe’s Bigfoot obsession. I believe Duhamel got a little bit carried away with it, but we can let that slide.

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