Léolo (1993)

100% of critics liked it
(9 reviews)
86% of users liked it
(5,373 ratings)

Jean-Claude Lauzon's highly praised film tells the strange story of Léolo, a young boy from Montréal. Told from Léolo's point-of-view, the film depicts his family of lunatics and Léolo's attempts to deal with them. Not one individual in the boy's life is well adjusted. His brother, after being… More Jean-Claude Lauzon's highly praised film tells the strange story of Léolo, a young boy from Montréal. Told from Léolo's point-of-view, the film depicts his family of lunatics and Léolo's attempts to deal with them. Not one individual in the boy's life is well adjusted. His brother, after being beaten up, spends the film bulking up on growth protein. The grandfather hires half-naked girls to bite off his toenails and, in a brutal rage, almost kills Léolo. As he witnesses his family decay around him, Léolo retreats into himself and the fantasy world he has constructed. In response to the weirdness of his daily life, Léolo creates a little mental mayhem of his own which Lauzon renders in an amazing series of free-form, surreal images. Eventually, this precarious balance of reality and fantasy cracks and Léolo is hospitalized after attempting to murder his grandfather. The score by Tom Waits underscores the narrative arc of Léolo's breakdown. On its release, the film won numerous awards including the International Fantasy Film Award for Best Director (1992) and a Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay (1992). ~ Brian Whitener, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By: Jean-Claude Lauzon, Jean Claude Lauzon
Written By: Jean-Claude Lauzon
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1992 Wide
On DVD: Oct 25, 2005
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Hal Hinson, Washington Post
A disturbing, imaginative, beautifully realized film.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
A strangely-captivating motion picture.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
I felt alive when I was watching it.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Caught the big picture in a strikingly fresh way.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
French-Canadian Lauzon's disturbing and audacious comin-of-age saga, which opened the 1993 Toronto Film Festival, centers on a boy who actually believes that his mother was impregnated by a sperm-covered tomato in Sicily!
Kevin N. Laforest, Montreal Film Journal
The best Quebecois movie ever made.
Bruce Kirkland, Jam! Movies
A visionary yet profoundly disturbing masterpiece about a young boy's rites-of-passage into adult life.

Read all 7 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Christopher M

A fantastic Canadian film, in both quality and content. Strange though, but in that lovely sort of way that draws you in. Basically it's the story of a highly intelligent boy growing up in a tenement in Montreal with his oddball, mostly insane, family, and the imaginary living… More
A fantastic Canadian film, in both quality and content. Strange though, but in that lovely sort of way that draws you in. Basically it's the story of a highly intelligent boy growing up in a tenement in Montreal with his oddball, mostly insane, family, and the imaginary living dream world he creates for himself which is often hard to distinguish from reality. This is one of those poetic sort of films that are magical in a way, and hard to define, breathtaking at times, confusing at times, also - but ultimately rewarding. In any case, it`s a truly unique film that should be seen by an anyone with an appreciation for "off the beaten path" type films.
Lesley N

Canadian boy comes of age in nutty family. A strange film, a bit like watching something by a sedated Jean-Pierre Jeunet, with a heartbreaking ending. From RHADYNASCIMENTO's favourites list
Quinto W

For a movie where defecating and masturbation have a surprising amount of screen time, this is a very whimsical and funny story about a dysfunctional family just trying to make it out alive. The script does a very good job of showing the world through the eyes of a young boy,… More
For a movie where defecating and masturbation have a surprising amount of screen time, this is a very whimsical and funny story about a dysfunctional family just trying to make it out alive. The script does a very good job of showing the world through the eyes of a young boy, accurately capturing the desperate nature with which we try to make sense of the world.
Alex F

Because I dream, I am not.
MJS M

Leolo was the second and final film from the French Canadian Jean-Claude Lauzon, who tragically died in a plane crash before making another film. This is a very hard film to describe, it?s sort of an absurdist journey through the mind of a mischievous youth. This kid, the title… More
Leolo was the second and final film from the French Canadian Jean-Claude Lauzon, who tragically died in a plane crash before making another film. This is a very hard film to describe, it?s sort of an absurdist journey through the mind of a mischievous youth. This kid, the title character is not a reliable narrator; in fact he makes up all kinds of crazy stuff. It?s apparently a fairly autobiographical film, except it?s told expressionistically rather than literally. The film is fairly episodic, it just goes through a number of the strangely perceived events in the kid?s life. It?s a hard movie to wrap your head around and a hard film to comment on without further study. It didn?t blow me away, but I definitely dug it.