The Childhood of a Leader

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Lorcan S @Smudge49 Sep 15, 2026 This film is a mish-mash of incomplete themes with intrusive overly portentous music throughout. The poor direction and script cannot be saved by the good acting from an excellent cast, resulting in perhaps the worst film I have ever seen. Although it's hinted that the wife has had an affair with her husband's best friend it is never clear that the child was the outcome of this affair. The child is the product of a loveless marriage and receives no love, apart from a servant and so he rebels - no great surprise - and the father reacts violently to him. The father's heavy involvement in the Versailles treaty negotiations is implied as a reason for the lack of fatherly attention, but this actually seems irrelevant - he might as well have been a CEO of a global business. The final scene where the child has grown up to be a dictator welcomed by his army is only explained by reading the original story, but the film just tacks this on without explanation. The film is a waste of good actors See more Beks C @beks22 Mar 8, 2026 Perfect, nuanced performances by the entire cast. The cinematography and editing choices are brilliant. Incredible performance by a child actor (Tom Sweet). See more Nicola B @Nikkyb Dec 2, 2025 Absolutely extraordinary. Subtlety that plays on the imagination. See more Tina B @RT29694664 Feb 1, 2025 I wonder at what point during the filming, did any of the crew think, " this is absolute pretensious nonsense" The kis walks around the house, learning French sometimes. They talk French and English in the dark, then it ends. Terrible. Good grief See more Dani G @RT81139271 Mar 24, 2024 Classic example of a movie with good production design and good production values in general, but a very little engaging story. See more Gareth v @geewah Jun 22, 2023 The story of how an entitled boy turns into a facist. Despite having a number of flat spots the story is compelling enough. See more Read all reviews

The Childhood of a Leader

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