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Partisan

✭ ✭ ✭   Read critic reviews

Australia · 2015
1h 38m
Director Ariel Kleiman
Starring Vincent Cassel, Nigel Barber, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara
Genre Drama, Thriller

11-year-old Alexander is one of several children in an assassin-training commune run by the mysterious Gregori. As Alexander grows older, he begins to question Gregori's authority and the morality of his work. Gregori, in turn, becomes more hostile, and Alexander must decide for himself what is right and what is wrong.

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What are people saying?

What are critics saying?

60

The Guardian by

You’re never sure what the characters are capable of achieving and the bottled-up energy that comes out of that feeling runs throughout.

70

Variety by Ben Kenigsberg

Casting Cassel as a ruthless villain might seem like a cliche, but Kleiman uses him counterintuitively, locating an avuncular, calming quality in the actor.

63

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

Ariel Kleiman fashions an erotic atmosphere of dusty sensuality that complicates our judgement of this world, but he takes shortcuts.

50

The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney

While the systematic corruption of innocents under an outwardly benevolent protector makes for a disturbing scenario, Australian newcomer Ariel Kleiman dulls the unease with his studiedly enigmatic approach.

40

The New York Times by Helen T. Verongos

The screenwriters, Ariel Kleiman (who is also the director) and Sarah Cyngler, have cut their story loose from any real significance, leaving us with Gregori, who has no discernible political views and no unifying beliefs, even delusional ones.

75

The Playlist by Jessica Kiang

It is slow and it is ambiguous but it is supremely sure of itself, as it moves, with singleminded grace from chilly to all-out chilling.

58

The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo

That sense of mystery definitely keeps Partisan intriguing, though it also creates expectations that Kleiman, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sarah Cyngler, isn’t especially interested in fulfilling.

60

Village Voice by Nick Schager

Cassel is never less than transfixing as a savior with a semi-sinister smile, but Partisan's lack of interest in providing necessary context — especially about the ill-defined larger society that Gregori rejects — leaves it operating on a hazy psychological level.

50

RogerEbert.com by Susan Wloszczyna

Partisan, Cassel’s latest movie that smartly keeps his innate menace on a slow, low simmer, isn’t nearly as convincing or compelling as its star.

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