Alexander was born a few hours ago and is the son of an abused woman.

Gregori welcomes her into his family home, where he takes in women and children in difficulty, making them live isolated from the outside world, which he sees as hostile, unjust, and cruel.

He teaches the children everything and exercises his authority in an affectionate, understanding, yet simultaneously strict and mysterious manner.

An unsettling and surprising aspect of his character emerges from his charisma: among the daily and recreational activities like karaoke, there is the teaching of a unique subject: murder. Although the children are trained to shoot, the world they live in is quite reassuring, albeit claustrophobic, with no contact with the outside, similar to Lanthimos's Dogtooth.

Alexander will become Gregori's adopted and favorite son, as well as a perfect assassin: he indeed goes outside the family context to kill in a cold and calculated manner.

Nothing disturbs his conscience, which seems unaware of the implications of his actions; his mentor is not raising a human being but an individual who must follow the rules and be reliable according to the family/community's code.

The women seem unaware of what happens to their children, while Alexander's mother is expecting another child.

The arrival of a woman with two children, one of whom, Leo, 11 years old, different from the other children, will strongly disrupt the context. Leo disobeys and reacts, which leaves Alexander surprised, intrigued, and confused. He begins to see Gregori's weaknesses and observe the situation in a completely new light.

Meanwhile, Alexander witnesses the birth of his brother Tobias, which will lead him to make a dramatic and irrevocable choice.

A film marked by imperfections but also by excellences, such as the unmissable final scene and the ability to tell the story through images without resorting to didactic explanations.

To Gregori Kleiman's Weltanschauung, the film contrasts Kantian morality, which seems inherent in Alexander.

Although Gregori does not educate him to autonomous thought but to obligatory murder, Alexander has a "moral law" within himself.

As Kant said, we have a cognitive world regulated according to necessary physical laws and limited to the phenomenal plane, while the moral world is based on the postulate of freedom that autonomously establishes the moral law.

This is why Alexander, despite his knowledge being dictated by the world he lives in and the experiences imposed on him, does not limit his morality to them but identifies an autonomous faculty that leads him to a free choice.

The limited "starry sky" that Alexander lives in does not limit his moral constellation, and the interpretation by newcomer Jeremy Chabriel deserves a special mention.

20-Aug-2023 by Beatrice