The Childhood of a Leader
IFC Films | Release Date: July 22, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
CineVueJohn BleasdaleSep 18, 2015
The Childhood of a Leader is a dark, enigmatic piece of work that hovers between visionary greatness and petty domestic triviality. Corbet's inaugural stint behind the camera marks a stunning debut. Read full review
90
Screen DailyLee MarshallSep 18, 2015
The Childhood Of A Leader is as relentlessly sombre and compelling as the film’s remarkable, full-volume orchestral soundtrack by musician’s musician Scott Walker. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 15, 2016
With his unusually accomplished directorial debut Childhood of a Leader, Corbet delivers a strange and startling film that reflects the unique trajectory of his career, as well as the influence of the iconoclastic directors with whom he’s already worked. Read full review
80
Total FilmMatt GlasbyDec 20, 2016
Submit to Corbet’s vision and you’ll find something original and unsettling. Read full review
80
We Got This CoveredLauren Humphries-BrooksOct 17, 2016
Despite its occasional oversteps and misfires, The Childhood of a Leader is a fascinating film, as moving and irresistible as it is terrifying. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounAug 15, 2016
‘Childhood’ is not always a subtle film, and some of the writing and acting feel like a bit of a slog. But its very spooky mood leaves a strong impression. Read full review
80
EmpirePhil de SemlyenAug 15, 2016
The ending doesn’t quite land, but this timely right-wing allegory promises there’s much more to come from Corbet. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJul 28, 2016
The Childhood of a Leader is a chilly — and chilling — political thriller by way of a provocative domestic chamber piece. Strikingly mounted, lighted, shot and scored, this tense, decidedly arty film marks a bravura feature directing debut for young American actor Brady Corbet. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMichael NordineJul 21, 2016
Little of what happens will come as a surprise, but Corbet's narrative restraint coupled with his formal daring makes for a gripping experience. It's a slow burn, but the fuse attached had me holding my breath. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireJul 22, 2016
An uncommonly promising debut. Read full review
75
The Film StageTommaso TocciJul 21, 2016
What could very easily be received as an irritating, pretentious feature debut is actually a display of controlled madness full of astute touches. Read full review
70
Little White LiesSophie Monks KaufmanDec 1, 2021
The set-up is fascinating and the tension is increasingly grotesque. Yet there are many plodding stretches which Corbet doesn’t succeed in concealing by inserting wild camera movements combined with Scott Walker’s bleak, juddering orchestral score. This music feels like possessed black stallions galloping to hell. It bludgeons you with loud, brash, hysterical horror. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisJul 21, 2016
It’s a persuasive portrait of a monster-to-be, one etched in thrown tantrums and rocks, and heavily supported by an excellent cast that includes Robert Pattinson and Yolande Moreau as well as a driving score that occasionally threatens to upstage the movie. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJul 27, 2016
If only for a few minutes, The Childhood Of A Leader becomes its own film, a tour of the printing presses, paternoster elevators, and mazes of power that ends with a convulsive blur of bodies crowding in a public square. A viewer can’t help but think, “What took so long?” Read full review
63
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeJul 21, 2016
It’s an ambitious, often arresting film, but it lacks cohesion, and the seesawing plot and motivations seem more indecisive than mysterious. Read full review
63
ObserverRex ReedJul 20, 2016
A debut feature by American writer-actor Brady Corbet, the film is sketchy, confused and too self-consciously aimed at arthouse audiences to thrive commercially, but it has a chilling impact. Read full review
58
The PlaylistJessica KiangSep 18, 2015
Alternating immense bombast with long stretches of longueur in its psychologically questionable evocation of the formative years of a future despot, the film is formally confident, stylistically inventive and intensely irritating. Read full review
50
VarietyGuy LodgeSep 18, 2015
A overweening, maddening but not inconsiderable directorial debut for actor Brady Corbet Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungSep 18, 2015
There is actually a lot of imagination at work in the film, though frustratingly it rarely comes together in an emotionally meaningful way. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineSam C. MacJul 19, 2016
Brady Corbet reaches for a dreary self-importance akin to Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon. Read full review
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