The Childhood of a Leader

From the opening shot of a train speeding accompanied by the haunting music, I was gripped by this film.

The title gives it away as to what the film is mainly about, but it’s still really worth seeing.

The performances are superb all round. The cinematography is stuffy and atmospheric to go along with the period trappings. It is a really well made film. I read about it being a horror as well as a historical drama, and I have to say, you would be forgiven to think that it is a horror because of the score. It’s also an interesting film, which doesn’t let up. At times it can be a bit too stagy, almost like the actors are on stage, but that is a very minor thing compared to the rest of the film, which is exquisite.

If you like historical dramas or just dramas in general or historical films, then you’ll really enjoy this, like I did.

The DVD also comes with a nice director's feature commentary, a short film 'Protect you + me' which is good and a trailer on the film and on other releases from Soda Pictures. It's a nice package.  

Thank you to Soda Pictures who very kindly gave me a copy of the film to review.

The Childhood of a Leader is out 30^th January 2017 on DVD and Blu-Ray.