68
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100CineVueJohn BleasdaleCineVueJohn BleasdaleThe 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.
- 90Screen DailyLee MarshallScreen DailyLee MarshallThe 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.
- 83IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichWith 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.
- 70The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisIt’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.
- 63New York PostFarran Smith NehmeNew York PostFarran Smith NehmeIt’s an ambitious, often arresting film, but it lacks cohesion, and the seesawing plot and motivations seem more indecisive than mysterious.
- 58The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangAlternating 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.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThere is actually a lot of imagination at work in the film, though frustratingly it rarely comes together in an emotionally meaningful way.
- 38Slant MagazineSam C. MacSlant MagazineSam C. MacBrady Corbet reaches for a dreary self-importance akin to Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon.