The Childhood of a Leader may not behold a traditional narrative, yet Corbet's auterist style creates a memorable visceral effect.

| Feb 20, 2022

One almost senses after watching Brady Corbet's film that to ignore its warnings could be to our peril.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 31, 2021

The Childhood of a Leader owes big to its young star Tom Sweet. As a wide eyed, bratty kid, his brave performance alone will cause a string of nature vs nurture debates...

| Jul 17, 2020

This is a fascinating, eerie portrayal of a crumbling oligarchy shedding its skin for the rise of a new terror.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 22, 2019

A skilful debut and beautiful cinematic text which causes a pervading mood of discomfort.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 29, 2019

The nightmarish epilogue is a striking and terrifying collage of shots from disorientating angles -- conveying collusion, confusion, messianic adulation and menace in an unnamed nation.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 19, 2019

While a more allegorical approach may have provided a shallower sense of satisfaction, it is the deliberate ambiguities of Childhood of a Leader that house its lasting, more enduring and inescapably disturbing impact.

| Aug 25, 2018

How a kid becomes a fascist.

| Original Score: B | Nov 13, 2017

Demands that kind of close attention, and rewards it as well.

| May 14, 2017

Sudden lens strobe and Scott Walker's sawing score connect the character to the tumult of 20th century Europe, suggesting the child is its destructive heir, and the film climaxes with a remarkable final sequence

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 9, 2017

The problem with the film is that it promises more than it delivers.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 17, 2017

...this is an odd, slow moving and only partly successful film.

| Original Score: 13/20 | Jan 30, 2017

Corbet draws an incredible performance out of young debutant Tom Sweet. This is not a one-dimensional or one-note depiction of a misbehaving child but rather a tremendously nuanced turn.

| Dec 14, 2016

The Childhood of a Leader signals a fascinating new talent in art cinema: the actor Brady Corbet.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 10, 2016

The film is clear that no struggle is small to those who engage in it, be they people or nations, and the repercussions of careless decisions can be catastrophic.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 5, 2016

Bold and intelligent, this dark drama is a challenging portrait of the making of an authoritarian dictator.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 13, 2016

Childhood is less a j'accuse than a bad, half-remembered dream about history.

| Sep 6, 2016

The film, shot in very dark hues, has a sombre power and twisted humour about it that is only accentuated by its elliptical narrative style.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 25, 2016

[A] bold and brilliant debut that heralds a major new talent.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 22, 2016

There are times when you feel as though very little is happening, but this is a bold, uncompromising film that gradually takes a hold.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 21, 2016