Brady Corbet’s The Childhood of a Leader shows a French house acting like it has its own mind. After WWI, one of its residents is a boy, Prescott (Tom Sweet), a self-proclaimed ‘citizen of the world’. To live up to that title, his Parents (Berenice Bejo and Liam Cunningham) hire a French Teacher (Stacy Martin). That teacher, Adelaide, inadvertently leads him to an awakening, but he’s capable of seeing women platonically. One of the women in his life is special to him, the house’s head Maid (Yolande Moreau). Again, all of this is taking place during a time when fascism starts to take root in European minds.

A rough draft of Corbet’s talents, this doesn’t necessarily have the most foolproof statement. Pardon me for being reductive about this, but this film basically says that pervy little boys end up being fascists. Which, in Corbet’s defense, a lot of those men are popping up recently, which makes this MUBI acquisition timely. Another thing about a film like this is that it’s chastising the male gaze while inadvertently glorifying said gaze. There are shots here of Adelaide’s see through blouse and of the Mother’s underwear. On another note, it takes a while for The Childhood of a Leader to make Robert Pattinson’s presence make any sense.

A post-WWI film outside the battlefield, The Childhood of a Leader seems like an under cooked The White Ribbon. And yet, I’m hesitant to give this a negative review just because of how big it’s swinging. It’s easy to forgive the male gaze-y shots for others that show Brady Corbet’s painterly eye. There’s a Dutch master aesthetic in this film, which makes sense knowing that many countries provided funding for something so stylish. There’s also some substance here, especially as it depicts Prescott’s relationship with the Maid. He’s not just Damien from The Omen, hope lies within this boy living in a home where his parents abuse him.

But again, most viewers are watching The Childhood of a Leader for a style it shows off with aplomb. There’s the archive footage contextualizing the life of this child, and that booming score that makes us feel. Loosely adapting a Jean-Paul Sartre story, it divides itself into chapters, marking Prescott’s increasing tantrums. Scenes give its viewers a sense of dread, of the inevitable end we’re watching passively, powerless to change. I wonder what it was like watching this during its initial release, a better, optimistic time. Regardless of my disagreements with what this film is saying, Corbet passes because of how he imparts his message.

Watch The Childhood of a Leader on MUBI.