Partisan

The first full-length feature from Australian director Ariel Kleiman is an eerie and enigmatic coming-of-age tale set mainly on the outskirts of an unnamed city (though it was partly shot in Georgia). Vincent Cassel is the charming and seemingly benign head of a cult-cum-commune, who is actually training the children to become young assassins. Newcomer Jeremy Chabriel is one of his favourites and like the rest of the kids, follows Cassel's teachings without question. However, when a new arrival of the same age openly rebels against the regime, he, too, begins to question the patriarch's actions. Cassel's subtle and quietly menacing performance helps compensate for a story that drifts along rather aimlessly at times, while Kleiman's dreamy visuals mark him out as a talent to watch.