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Greetings again from the darkness. Brady Corbet has established a pretty nice career as an actor (Melancholia, Funny Games), and along comes his feature film debut as a writer/director (co-written with Mona Fastvold). In this day of remakes and reboots, this one is anything but. The "Overture" sets the mood with video clips of the WWI aftermath and the explosive score from Scott Walker quickly establishes itself as a character unto itself.

Subsequent title cards are broken into three "Tantrums", as we witness the ever-escalating inappropriate behavior from young Prescott (Tom Sweet). In what on the surface could be classified as a nature vs nurture expose', the film leaves little doubt that Prescott is rebelling against the monotony of his environment and the disengaged parents to which he is tethered. However, it also seems evident that young Prescott is inherently "off". He seems to be cold and emotionally removed as he engages in battles of will with his parents … his father (Liam Cunningham) a US diplomat knee-deep in negotiations that will lead to the Treaty of Versailles, and his mother (Berenice Bejo), a self-described "citizen of the world".

Two obvious film comparisons would be The Omen (1976) and We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011). The ominous music and settings leave little doubt that we are headed somewhere very dark here, though it's not in the religious sense of The Omen and it's more global than the intimacy of 'Kevin'. Thinking of this as evil in the making would be a just description, though a different title might have held the ending a bit longer.

Support work is provided by Stacy Martin as the French teacher and Yolanda Moreau as the housekeeper who has moments of connection with the challenging Prescott, but Robert Pattison fans will be surprised at how little screen time he has – especially for dual roles.

Young Tom Sweet is fascinating to watch in a very tough role for a child actor, and director Corbet proves he is a filmmaker we should follow closely. His visual acumen is something special, and offsets a script that could have used a bit of polishing. The movie will probably prove divisive – either you will find it mesmerizing and creepy, or you simply won't connect at all. That's often the case with a creative and bold project.

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.

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.

Brady Corbet has assimilated many wonderful visual styles which he has picked up over the past several years working with master directors such as Von Trier and Haneke, but this is all Corbet has accomplished. Reappropriating stunning visual film language does not a good director make, because used haphazardly the images lose their ominous, dark tone and are instead replaced with empty somewhat pretentious images that have nothing story or acting wise holding it up. So all we are left is a misfire. While Corbet is similar to another young director, Xavier Dolan, in that they are trapped exercising their personal influences, Dolan has more innate talent. I would say that Corbet's command of the camera at times is promising. The sad part is he has a great skeleton but no meat and few functioning organs. The performances are a bit flat, though they are only working with what they are giving. Bejo is tiresome and Pattinson is...Pattinson. The best scene is in the beginning where the young boy gets in trouble with snowballs, a possible reference to Abel Gance's Napoleon. Corbet like Napoleon is undone by his ambition. But I do wish more directors were this ambitious in their debuts. If nothing else Corbet swung for the fences...and he should know better: nobody does Haneke better than Haneke.

I like Liam Cunningham and Bérénice Bejo very much, and it is also necessary to say that cinematography and art direction are quite good in The Childhood of a Leader. However, all those qualities are not enough for delivering a good movie. It is definitely not. Not only because of its sluggish boring pace, with different events of varied interest that do not compose together a deep portrait. Perhaps, the very general idea is even worse than that. The script was supposedly adapted or inspired in a story by Sartre, which I have never read, and, then, I do not know if French thinker shared the filmmaker's sins. Anyway, the very idea that a fascist leader eventually follows his authoritarian steps due a permissive education and upper-class family dysfunctional relationship during his coming-of-age years is a bizarre, stupid and childish understanding. I could not understand if fictional Prescott - who director Brady Corbet clarified that was neitler Hitler nor Mussolini - became a Füher or duce in France, Hungary, the United States or anywhere else, and I believe that confusion is intentional, but I do know that fascism does not rise because there is an individual with Prescott's traits and that has been mistaken for a girl. Addressing psychologically fascism as consequence of a troubled mind of a leader is no more intelligent and mature than portraying Nazis as zombies, vampires os extraterrestrials, as mainsteam popcorn flicks often do. We know that Pattinson's character was anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic, but even his possible harmful personal influence over the kid does not appear in the film (differently from the boy's precocious sex drive towards Stacy Martin's character, for instance). Additionally, the general and widespread (not just circumscribed in the family's personal circle) jingoist and racist prejudice feeling in society - and the hatred for the humiliation of the Versailles Treaty - would have been focused on if it were a consistent film about Fascist genesis. To resume, the choice of a horror music score (composed by Scott Walker) does not contribute for acknowledging this movie's political seriousness either.

In 1939 Jean Paul Sartre wrote a short story named "Childhood of a Leader", that deals with identity, sexuality and its relation to fascism.

Corbet's "loose adaptation" of "Childhood of a Leader" is indeed very loose. All the Freudian and identity elements that formed the core of Sartre's short piece were discarded, and whatever was left ( not much ) was then watered down into a full feature film.

You can feel it throughout.

Photography and acting are really good. Had this been turned into short film instead, I'm sure my review would've been much different.

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.

A strange film. I really wanted to like it more than I did. I think a better delivery would have been to use flash backs, to develop more of a sense of how the childhood influenced the dictator. As it stood, the two time frames were isolated and it left me confused as to how one became the other. The score by Scott Walker is exemplary, though.

This movie might have been decent if I was able to actually decipher some of the dialogue. The French was not subtitled and it was spoken through at least half the movie. The English was whispered behind music that was entirely too loud. But what bothered me most is there was not enough "story". Why did he have mental health issues? His mother seemed to love him, he was cared for by people close to him. He was not poor or abused, give me something! There is not even enough for me to provide a decent speculation. I think it could have been so much better, as much as I wanted to like it, I did not. The music tried to make it more suspend up than it actually was. The people that say this was "art" are just lame and use that as an excuse to give it better reviews. This movie had no substance and no matter how you try and describe it, the fact of the matter is that it doesn't!

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.

This movie had my full attention. The last ten minutes, however, were a letdown. Those responsible for the script/direction did not make a strong case for the tyrant child, Prescott, evolving into a (presumably) despotic leader. The final part could also have benefited from a clearer expose of what kind of leader he had become (charismatic, apparently from the size of the crowd, but not much else). Also casting Robert Pattinson in the two roles---I wonder if anyone at the end said, "Wait, the reporter guy became a dictator? I thought the kid was supposed to." Though the ending was disappointing, I don't regret spending the two-hour viewing time.

A drama film based on a 2015 novel. It tells the story of a child who is brought up under pressure and coercion by disinterested parents. I've been a child, possibly rebellious, and as the pressure on him increases, he becomes more rebellious. Eventually this kid grows up and becomes a dictator. The child actor who plays the role really does justice to the role. The music used in the movie is beautiful. There is one final scene, which is incredible. It is exquisite with both the shooting style and the music. Although the movie is static, it is watched with interest.

There is no sex or nudity in the movie. However, it is a question that the child focuses on his chest, which is visible under the teacher's shirt while taking lessons, and the scene takes a little longer.

Wow. That was amazing.

The story revolves around a wealthy American (or citizens of the world, as The Mother calls them) family at the end of WW1 in France. The movie centers on the kid, Prescott. He's not a "normal" kid, I guess. He's been acting up ever since they moved to another town. He takes French lessons from the teacher, Ada (played excellently by Stacy Martin), which The Father disapproves of, because he can't speak the language himself and he feels The Father works for the American government, right under President Jimmy Carter, so he goes on a lost of work trips, and he doesn't really care about getting to know the people of the town as much as The Mother does.

At the beginning of the film the kid got caught throwing rocks at the church members ("A Sign of Thing to Come) and the movie just goes from there. The film is divided in chapter in a really cool way (First Tantrum, Second Tantrum etc.). The whole film is stylized really old school, e.g there's an overture at the beginning and etc. That brings me to the score, oh my god. The score is amazing, it's very unsettling. Quite possibly the best score I've heard this year, Knight of Cups is the only competition.

All of the performances are fantastic, especially Tom Sweet as Prescott, Bèrènice Bejo as The Mother and Stacy Martin as Ada, or The Teacher. Robert Pattinson is great too as a friend of the family and widower Charles, in the few scenes he shows up in.

I can't believe this is Brady Corbet's directorial debut, because the film is directed so well. I knew he's a great actor (Funny Games U.S.), I had no idea he could direct. I cannot wait for his next project because this is one of the better directed films I've seen in a while. Everything felt unsettlingly natural and real, the cinematography was fantastic and all the actors were great, even the kid. Or especially the kid.

Oh yeah, by the way, this is not a horror movie, it has some horror-ish and surreal (although it never goes full Eraserhead or Enemy) elements and it's very unsettling but it's not a horror movie. I think the horror-ish stuff lies in the things we don't see, or the things to come.

Oh, and no spoiler but the ending was so amazing, holy crap.

This is the third, possibly second, best movie I've seen so far this year and I'm hoping for Oscar buzz for this film at the end of the year, but it's not likely that will happen though.

9/10. It's excellent.

A child is brought up in a home where tenderness and affection from parents seems in short supply. But the material circumstances are favorable, and he is comfortable, and has servants and tutors who care for him and emotionally support him. Nevertheless, the kid acts up. On good days, he is a handful. On bad days, he is violent and out of control. Structurally, the film offers up three tantrums. This all takes place against the backdrop of negotiations that will lead to the infamous Treaty of Versailles, which I suppose is supposed to hint at thematic concerns. The thumping, ponderous music implies a great evil is being enacted. In the end, the boy becomes man and leads a fascist army.

The period detail is impressive, the child actor is plausible, but no question is being asked here, no premise is explored. The material suggests we should be looking at nature versus nurture, but the execution does not run with that. It is, in the end, all a bit emperor's new clothes. "You just didn't get it," some will say, but after watching the film and reading around, I still don't see what there is to get.

A very annoying wee boy grows up to be a bad man. That's it. How dull.

I had to read the other 16 reviews here before posting my own to see how my view of the film - which I just finished watching - compare to the others and ... Here are my thoughts

The child actor with a long blond hair that is reminiscent of Renoir's Coco portraits is brilliant. great acting for a 8,9 year old - or whatever his age is.

All other actors are really good too and they do convey the feeling it is 1918. I don't know where is this big old house - but somehow it does not fit into France. I would more think about the Balkans. But it is just a thought.

Were they really people with black hoods and capes and all at funerals at that time? It is a rather strange and completely unnecessary scene in the film, though kinda effective.

I really liked the mood of the film and I can appreciate the art vision of it. However, the film is too long and most of the time boring. I love French and I was forcing myself to make that as a plus point, but...

The best thing about this film is music!

But somehow its dramatic score and almost banging at the window tone is totally opposite to the calm and slow narative. That music would be better for horror films.

All in all, I would not really recommend this film to anyone as I think it is too boring. And plus the ending totally makes no sense to me.

Well, it took about 2 years but I finally got around to watching this. The trailer was hands down my favorite of 2016. The fierce Scott Walker composition cut to all the stunning shots hooked me hard, and induced goosebumps every time I watched it.

Let me say right off the bat that it is quite an odd film in the sense that it truly feels like an incredible pilot episode for a series, all building towards something that feels monstrous, but just as you reach that point, the movie is over. While this element is probably not for everyone, I was cracking up in supportive amusement during the closing sequence - I personally admired it's absence of a common folk sort of finale.

Setting that oddity aside, which could be considered a pretty major flaw in some people's eyes, everything about this film is masterfully done... the whole cast kills. This was my intro to Berenice Bejo and she made a MARK! Simultaneously beautiful and elegant, and then, at turn of a hat, heinous and witchlike. Liam Cunningham is as strong and actor as possible, shown here through stoicism with an underlying weasliness to his character. Stacy Martin is intoxicating and graceful as usual and young TOM SWEET steals the show, flawlessly delivering as a child imprisoned in the confines of his own royal sort of upbringing. Every motion, every murmur that he delivers hits right on the mark.

The film is absolutely gorgeous too. It's shot and directed beautifully in a very disciplined manner, and I'd use the same adjectives for the pacing. All the wardrobe, styling, and environments are tastefully chosen and displayed. And, of course, the frickin' legend SCOTT WALKER's score is intense and awesome - I wish there was more of his abrasive orchestral cuts but the film doesn't really call for it outside of the opening and the finale - I'll take what I can get.

All I can say is after viewing this and based off of what I can tell so far about Corbet's upcoming second film, VOX LUX, he could very well be one of the new darlings of American filmmakers! Childhood of a Leader comes off as a huge risk to make in this era but he made it happen and I see it as a very ballsy move for a debut. Can't wait to see Corbet's second film VOX LUX starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law in theaters this December - I think he has a masterful catalogue in him waiting to be unleashed!

You're led to expect something really powerful and frightening by the opening shots of World War I and a nerve-jangling, portentous score. And, indeed, your expectations are well rewarded when the child of the title...wets his bed! plays an angel in the church Christmas play!

It's hardly a bold or singular premise that a disturbed childhood will create a damaged, perhaps dangerous adult. But the movie's portrayal of cause and effect is so simplified as to be ridiculous. Plenty of neglected children--the condition is hardly the rarity the filmmakers seem to think, especially among wealthy people 100 years ago--grow up to be normal adults. Some become nasty ones. Some, in reaction, become humanitarians. If the cause and effect are so cut and dried, why don't we have 50 million fascist dictators? Could it be because a great many emotional and intellectual attributes, a great many factors of class and opportunity and geography and history are necessary for someone to become a fascist dictator? An unhappy childhood is hardly the only qualification!

The script and director also ignore the most basic rules of portraying an unhappy childhood, rules that have been followed by every writer and director of merit. First: If you cry, they won't. Kipling, Graham Greene, Henry James, Dickens--everyone who has done this well has shown the mistreated child suffering in silence or near-silence, so that the reader or film-goer supplies the emotions of sadness and anger and indignation. In this film, however, the child is constantly outraged, insolent, aggressive, at times violent, so he pre-empts all our emotions. It is hard not to regard him as simply a nuisance and a bore. Second, feeling sorry for a character is not enough to make us like him or even be interested in him. The boy is front and center in almost the entire film. But he never does or says anything interesting, charming, sweet, selfless, funny, quirky. All he does is throw tantrums. Kids like this are one of the things I go to the movies to get away from!