The Childhood of a Leader

This is a brilliantly brave attempt to make a challenging and striking piece of art.

On that level it works. The opening credits and first 10 minutes are intense. The Scott Walker soundtrack really pulls you in and immediately makes you think this is no ordinary film. And for that I loved it.

The acting is absolutely superb. Not at any stage do you think they are actors. The boy, the mum and the tutor are the stand outs.

The cinematography is superb, particularly near the end with the camera circling a dome, beautifully simple.

The overall look and feel reminded me of The Duke Of Burgundy (One of my fav films of recent)

There's not a lot of love in this family, thats for sure. The film is rather dull and slow though. I did find myself snnozebusting.

The ending made no sense either. It wasn't until I chatted to the guys in the cinema that we sort of worked it out.

I really respect the director for making a film like this. Im looking forward to his next film. Lets just hope more interesting stuff happens.

If you liked the Witch, you'll love this.

The film is clearly influenced by some the greatest directors in terms of style. The music is almost old school experimental and very striking. The acting is excellent. The environment is extremely realistic. Remarkable achievement on a relatively low budget.

The story and plot is challenging and requires full concentration to see into it's message and meaning. It it also like watching part one of a trilogy,

There is lots of going up and down stairs in steady tracking shots that at times almost feel Escheristic.

The film will appeal to those who enjoy watching directors that attempt to paint on a cinematic canvas and who appreciate challenging films.

There are many films that revolve around evil children and all of their misdeeds, including those who become murderers and killers. This one's different in that the film is telling you from the beginning (including with its title) who the child will go on to become, meaning it's not just an evil children horror film. The opening credits are a blast, mostly because of the loud, over-the- top, delightfully campy music. But it also kind of puts you in a mood for something that is more tongue-in-cheek, and I don't really think this film is. I think it's a good watch, and there's some great directing from Corbet (impressive that it's his first time) but there are also instances where I wish the film would have gone further. No doubt it's a good watch though, even if the last few minutes are disappointing.

Really this is a terrible film. It is ostensibly based on Sartre's "Childhood of a leader" about a child who grows up to be a Stalin or Hitler like character. The problems with this film derive from the maker veering off of Sartre's narrative -- because they clearly did not understand what Sartre was doing.

First of all the disciplinary conditions as well as the "seen but not heard" views of children's roles were typical for that period, and in fact the great majority of the population did not turn out to be fascist or socialist/communist leaders

A flawed but very promising directorial debut from Brady Corbet. The plot meanders a little, promising more than it ultimately manages to deliver. There are, though, plenty of great moments as the film unfolds and the increasingly oppressive atmosphere of isolation, alienation and menace intensifies. Scott Walker's soundtrack is gloriously weird and over the top, and is used to particularly powerful effect in the set piece sequences that open and close the film. The acting is uniformly excellent. Tom Sweet delivers a fine performance as The Boy, whose increasingly violent tantrums are a sign of grim things to come. This is an intelligent and subtle film. A very good debut, which falls just short of being great.