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Common sense media reviewers.

Animated ballet adventure is heartwarming but uneven.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Audiences will learn a bit about Paris in the 1880

Felicie's story proves that even enthusiastic love

Felicie is an optimist who believes her dreams can

Everyone is White. Many main characters are female

Intense chase scene between Camille's homicidal mo

A couple of cheek kisses and hugs; flirting.

Insults: "you're nothing," "little rat," "beggar,"

A pair of Repetto-brand pointe shoes plays a promi

Felicie performs at a pub where adults (including

Parents need to know that Leap! is an animated movie set in 1879 Paris, where tween best friends/orphans Felicie (voiced by Elle Fanning) and Victor (Nat Wolff in the U.S. version, Dane DeHaan in the U.K. version) each work to make their dreams come true (dancing and inventing, respectively). They escape to…

Educational Value

Audiences will learn a bit about Paris in the 1880s, the Opera Ballet School, and the maker of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, but historical accuracy clearly wasn't a priority. For example, the work-in-progress Statue of Liberty is colored green, as it is now, not bronze, as it would've been during this time period.

Positive Messages

Felicie's story proves that even enthusiastic lovers of an art form must practice and perfect their skills. Desire and willingness to learn alone don't make a talented artist/dancer—you have to work hard, listen to your coaches/teachers, and dedicate yourself to improving. Also promotes close, unconditional friendship, the value of mentors, and pursuing your dream. The story involves a deception, but there are consequences for that action.

Positive Role Models

Felicie is an optimist who believes her dreams can and will come true; she makes iffy choices on her path (i.e., pretending to be someone else), but she learns from those choices. Victor is talented and loyal. Odette is hardworking and kind; she's a tough but encouraging tutor to Felicie. The ballet master is strict and exacting, but he also acknowledges and respects the dancers who are disciplined and improve their skills.

Diverse Representations

Everyone is White. Many main characters are female, including the main villain, but most with authority, such as the ballet master, are male. Every dancer has a thin body type. A few supporting characters have disabilities, but they aren't nuanced or particularly positive. Felicie's kind mentor, Odette, who uses a cane, was forced to quit dancing and become a cleaner after injuring her leg. Her employer treats her terribly. The head of the orphanage has a lazy eye, which Victor makes fun of. Victor's sidekick has a lisp.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Intense chase scene between Camille's homicidal mother and Felicie ends with Felicie falling from a tall building before being caught by Victor's flying contraption. A security guard grabs Felicie and is about to strike her when she's saved. Lots of physical comedy, with characters getting injured in comical ways: crashing into poles, bonking their heads, falling over, taking death-defying tumbles, etc. Camille purposely throws Felicie's beloved music box out the window.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Insults: "you're nothing," "little rat," "beggar," "liar," "cheater," "thief," etc. Potty humor about bad breath, farts, and wetting yourself.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

A pair of Repetto-brand pointe shoes plays a prominent role, but the brand isn't mentioned by name—only the logo is visible.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Felicie performs at a pub where adults (including Felicie's ballet master) are drinking, but she and Victor don't drink themselves. Victor recounts his first day in Paris, which also includes going to a pub and befriending another child there, but again, he himself doesn't drink.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Leap! is an animated movie set in 1879 Paris, where tween best friends/orphans Felicie (voiced by Elle Fanning ) and Victor ( Nat Wolff in the U.S. version, Dane DeHaan in the U.K. version) each work to make their dreams come true (dancing and inventing, respectively). They escape to Paris from a strict orphanage in Brittany and face some challenging situations—like navigating the streets of a major city to find shelter and opportunity and fleeing from angry adults who mean them harm. The head of the orphanage ( Mel Brooks ) wants to catch them, while a jealous dancer's mother ( Kate McKinnon ) wants to hurt and even kill Felicie. Felicie pretends to be someone she's not, there's ridicule from a fellow tween, and characters experience lots of physical comedy/injuries played for humor. Expect a little romance: It's made clear that a boy has feelings for a girl, and there are a couple of kisses on the cheek (one involving tweens, the other adults) and mentions of girlfriends/boyfriends and dating. Scenes take place in pubs/taverns where adults are drinking. Language is limited to insults like "nothing," "rat," "beggar," and some jokes about bad breath, farts, and pee. Characters with disabilities are included, but they aren't nuanced. The story should spark conversations about talent requiring perseverance and dedication, ballet, Paris, and the origins of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (37)
• Kids say (47)

Based on 37 parent reviews

OH MY GOODNESS!!! YESSS!!!

What's the story.

Set in 1879 France, LEAP! follows best friends Felicie (voiced by Elle Fanning ) and Victor ( Nat Wolff in the U.S. version, Dane DeHaan in the U.K. version), who escape their stifling orphanage in Brittany for Paris, where they hope to make their dreams a reality. For Felicie, that's becoming a dancer; for Victor, it's becoming an inventor. After finding her way to the Grand Opera House, Felicie ends up begging custodian Odette ( Carly Rae Jepsen ) for a job as a servant's assistant at the mansion of wealthy arts patron Regine ( Kate McKinnon ). When Regine's daughter, Camille ( Maddie Ziegler ), is invited to join the Opera's prestigious Ballet School, Felicie decides to borrow Camille's identity and take the spot instead. Felicie eventually turns to Odette, who was once a brilliant ballerina before an injury cut her career short, for training in order to secure an audition for a starring role in The Nutcracker . Meanwhile, Victor snags an entry-level position in the workshop of Gustav Eiffel.

Is It Any Good?

This animated ballet story is partly inspiring and partly confounding. Leap! has a few missteps (like unnecessary romance) that could have been fixed had the tween protagonists been a couple of years older. Felicie isn't always particularly likable or laudable (she steals someone's identity to fake her way into a prestigious ballet school, despite not having even basic dance training), but she's persistent and willing to do the work. While it's still utterly unbelievable that someone could learn enough classical ballet to defeat an entire class of 11-year-old girls who've been dancing for years, at least she ultimately has to face consequences for her actions and prove she's really got the goods.

Fanning is nicely enthusiastic as Felicie, and Wolff does a good job with Victor, the clever, eager-to-please/impress best friend. And Jepsen believably embodies the stern but encouraging Odette, Felicie's ballet mentor/instructor. With themes familiar from The Karate Kid (jump up and ring the bell) and even Titanic (an odd, slightly off-putting love triangle, a sequence in which Felicie dances Irish jig-style in a pub, and a moment when a cute boy declares they're "on top of the world"), the story feels a little "old" to revolve around an 11-year-old character.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Leap! compares desire and enthusiasm to hard work and talent. What's the difference? What does Felicie learn about dancing?

Which characters are role models ? Why? How do Felicie and Victor demonstrate perseverance ? Why is that an important character strength ?

What do you think about Felicie's decision to steal Camille's identity? Is it justified? What were the consequences ?

Why is there a difference between doing an activity because you love it and doing it because it's expected of you? How did that show in the ballerinas?

Does the movie make you want to learn more about ballet, Paris, or Gustav Eiffel?

Movie Details

• In theaters : August 25, 2017
• On DVD or streaming : November 21, 2017
• Cast : Elle Fanning , Nat Wolff , Carly Rae Jepsen
• Directors : Eric Warin , Eric Summer
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : The Weinstein Company
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Arts and Dance , History
• Character Strengths : Perseverance
• Run time : 89 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : some impolite humor, and action
• Last updated : January 12, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Leap! dives off a cliff into animated abyss: EW review

Not even Carly Rae Jepsen can save this family-focused fiasco

Let’s be honest: The only reason you know Leap! exists is because the Queen Mother of sugary-sweet sonic confections, Carly “Slay” Jepsen, has graciously contributed “Cut to the Feeling” — the definitive underground pop jam of 2017 — to the 19th century-set film’s oddly curated contemporary soundtrack.

This isn’t the first time a sensational tune has defined a subpar motion picture’s standing in popular culture. Prince’s “Kiss” transcended the dreary reviews for Under the Cherry Moon back in 1986, and more recently, original songs by The Weeknd and Ellie Goulding attained multi-platinum status while their parent production, Fifty Shades of Grey , floundered with critics. While Leap! ’s pop cultural profile is a mere fraction of those occupied by the aforementioned titles, the drastic disparity in quality between the film and its far superior sonic companion again begs the question: Can a song save a movie?

Of course it can’t. Especially not an exhausting fiasco like Leap!

Initially recorded during sessions for Jepsen’s 2015 album, EMOTION , “Cut to the Feeling” is a throbbing, electronic-influenced banger with a chorus that soars as high as the film’s lofty ambitions. The script is brimming with half-baked ideas, drilling far too much fluffy nonsense about achieving one’s dreams into our skulls before the film crosses the 10-minute mark.

Leap! is a standard rags-to-riches tale, following a parentless teen, Felicie (Elle Fanning), who escapes the clutches of the world’s worst orphanage (students are apprehended daily while trying to escape the multi-story building via… the roof?) to the city streets of Paris. There, Felicie’s dreams of becoming a ballet dancer at a prestigious academy take shape. Its heart in the right place, Leap! wants you to know it’s in the business of ~~fun~~ (there’s an exclamation point in the title!), but don’t be fooled.

Originally released overseas as Ballerina , the film is an emotional suck of simplistic clichés dressed in candy coating, its gloopy, bland center exposed after the first lick. Felicie is defined purely by her desire to dance, her motivation for which isn’t explained until the film’s closing moments. As we see, she lacks both the talent and temperament to join the ranks of a world class company, though an ex-dancer-turned-local-maid-with-a-heart-of-gold, Odette (Jepsen), offers to train her.

While there’s infinite value in championing the uniqueness of an outcast — especially as issues of gender equality take center stage in the real world — Felicie’s tactics lack the charm necessary to motivate an audience to see her through to a happy end. For starters, she poses as the daughter of a wealthy patrician to scam her way into the ballet school, and from there, Leap! places its female characters in two drastically different camps: cloyingly upbeat in their unrealistic convictions or unredeemably sinister in their cattiness. Their negative qualities are troublingly tied directly to their existence as women. The film’s primary antagonists are vain victims of aristocratic boredom, subservient to the men around them as they claw at each other for a momentary shred of glory to stroke their tiresome vanity. Marveling at the cleaning skills of Odette — who walks with a limp thanks to a mysterious injury — from a distance, one of the most prominent male characters in the film notes that the woman “even makes sweeping look graceful.” Uh… swoon?

It takes guts to unleash such an fake-uplifting tale of female empowerment into the same cinematic arena where far superior titles like Brave , Inside Out , Frozen , and Moana , have already blazed a trail. But Leap! doesn’t put in the work to earn the ending it thinks its characters deserves. These days, young girls don’t need a wafer-thin story of chance and fantasy; they need to sink their teeth into something real, a film that shows them why grit and determination matter instead of a film that connects the dots for them.

Just how awful do things get? We’re prompted to chuckle at a man with a physical deformity. One character, in the midst of a stealthy escape from the orphanage, thinks it’s a good idea to pose as a nun by stuffing a squawking chicken in his shirt (get it, chicken breasts!!!!!! LOL!!!1111!!!!1!). A villain scales the unfinished pieces of the Statue of Liberty (casually strewn about a Paris alleyway, of course) with a six-foot iron gavel, chasing after a young victim with the intent of murdering her atop a symbol of American freedom. “Stop. It’s hammer time!” she cackles. Seriously.

In the end, we’re left to anticipate the moment “Cut to the Feeling” kicks in to save us from the animated abyss. Unfortunately, that moment doesn’t come until Leap! ‘s final minutes, and it’s as much of a letdown as you’d expect, with the film’s insipid vacuum having sapped all the energy from its weary audience by the time the credits roll. So, mommies and daddies of the world, if nothing else, please allow Leap! to teach you how to be a better parent. If your kid asks to see this movie, find your nearest set of speakers and tick up the volume on “Cut the Feeling” instead. It’s cheaper, bolder, and gets to its (far superior) point in under three minutes. D+

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The emotional and visual power of dance is so great that even a mediocre film can stoke our affection merely by showing it. The mediocre film in question is “Leap!,” the title of which will henceforth be typed without the exclamation point, because exclamation points are not only typographically irritating but emblematic of a shallow hucksterism that undercuts the entire project.

This story of a plucky orphan from Brittany who tries to make it as a ballet star in Paris is set almost 150 years ago, and lacks magic, talking animals, pop culture references that will be dated  six months from now , and other tics common to so American-made cartoon features done in the Pixar-DreamWorks-BlueSky mold. It also bears the pedigree of a French entertainment conglomerate, Gaumont, and its technical credits are filled with Gallic names. So there’s every reason to hope for something more than the same-old, same-old; something culturally specific and visually exciting; something with an active brain and a beating heart—if not an eccentric gem like “ The Triplets of Belleville ” or “A Cat in Paris,” then maybe a crowdpleaser that’s as simultaneously accessible and endearing as a second-tier Pixar release like “ Finding Dory ” or “ The Good Dinosaur .” 

No such luck. Co-directors Éric Summer and Éric Warin and their collaborators seem determined to crush the life out of an original premise and many promising characters by stealing every available page out of a substandard American studio animated feature’s playbook, from nonstop CGI-powered, 3-D animation clichés (montages set to contemporary power-pop ballads; gratuitous "slow motion" to highlight big moments; “helicopter shots” pointlessly flying around buildings and characters) to lead characters that are written, designed and animated in such an obvious, overly emphatic way that "Leap" stands as a rare cartoon feature that can be legitimately criticized for bad acting. 

Wannabe-dancer Felicie ( Elle Fanning ), who steals another girl’s identity to study at the Paris Opera Ballet; her fellow orphan Victor ( Nat Wolff ), an aspiring inventor; Felicie’s mentor and soon-to-be-mother figure, Odette (Carlie Rae Jepsen); Odette’s villainous employer Régine Le Haut ( Julie Khaner ); Régine’s hateful ballerina daughter Camille ( Maddie Ziegler )—these and other major figures are defined entirely by their function in the film’s plot: the heroine, the best friend, the villain, and so on. But in contrast to, well, good animated films aimed at family audiences, "Leap" seems stymied as to how to move beyond those basics. It tries to pump them up with characterization substitutes, mainly piling on physical infirmities: crossed or lazy eyes; a speech impediment and gluttonous tendencies; gap teeth and a grating laugh. There’s even a one-scene cameo by a mail courier with '80s-movie, swishy-gay mannerisms. When that gambit fails, the film will latch onto bits of allegedly comic business that aren't all that funny in the first place, and become less funny the more often "Leap" repeats them.

Victor’s social and physical ineptitude, for instance, is illustrated by having him bang his head on the same church bell three times in the film’s opening section, then stumble, tumble and crash through every scene in which he subsequently appears, when he’s not stammering and stumbling over his words and then vocally chastising himself for messing them up. Odette fares slightly better, mainly because of Jepsen’s sensitive line readings and the long face and sad, dark eyes that the animators have given her. But we deduce her tragic secret the instant we meet her, and the movie, which seems averse to giving either parents or children credit for movie-going intelligence, treats her inevitable backstory-revelation as deep and powerful, when it's actually far less compelling than the relationship she develops organically with Félicie through their shared love of dance. Mel Brooks ’ vocal performance as M. Luteau, the outwardly hard-nosed orphanage supervisor with a secretly soft heart, invests him with a bit of life beyond his  exopthalmia  and hunched-over posture; but like so many minor characters in “Leap,” he’s undercut by throwaway dialogue that sounds as if it was dropped into the soundtrack during post-production to explain things that don't need explaining. (When Luteau helps the heroine in the last act—a moment anyone who’s seen a movie before, any movie, will eagerly anticipate—Félicie exclaims “I knew you weren’t as bad as people say!”)

Félicie’s story becomes compelling anyway because it couples an expression of pure willpower with that foolproof sports-and-arts movie standby, the training montage in which new skills are practiced and mastered. The best thing about “Leap” is its portrayal of the dance world, then and now, as both exhilarating and cruel: practically an altar that fanatical young people sacrifice their bodies upon. Anybody who’s danced or been close to a dancer will testify to the emotional truth of the sequences where Odette puts Félicie through her paces, as well as to the knife-twisting comments that the Paris Opera Ballet’s choreographer Mérante ( Terrence Scammell ) makes as he cuts girls from a lineup of potential “Swan Lake" leads.

But “Leap” doesn’t seem to grasp how special these elements are. Rather than do its brave, tough, purehearted heroine the courtesy of concentrating on her artistic and emotional evolution and the indignities and injuries she suffers for her art, it keeps wasting her time (and ours) with theoretically comic or suspenseful subplots that we’ve seen done many times before, with considerably more wit and feeling. The love triangle between the bumbling best friend-nice guy (Victor) and the tall, blond, full-of-himself rival (Tamer Kapelian’s Rudolph), who claims to be a Russian prince, soon becomes tedious because neither young man seems charismatic enough to steal the spotlight away from Félicie’s true, great love, dance. More exasperating is the sneering, shallow hatefulness of the rival’s mother, Régine. She's been given Cinderella’s stepmother’s hell-pit eyes and fitted with a jet-black version of her tumorous hairdo, as if her constant physical humiliation of Félicie and Odette, literally her chambermaids, didn’t cement that connection for us straightaway.

The film’s misallocation of dramatic resources reaches a bizarre zenith in the finale, which delays the heroine’s understudy-who-gets-a-big-break debut (another ancient cliché that we spot from a thousand yards off, and can’t wait to see and revel in) for a long action sequence set beneath and near just-finished Eiffel Tower and the unfinished Statue of Liberty. It seems mainly interested in proving that Victor was the right guy for Félicie all along. Given how invested we’ve become in her quest at that point, despite all the prefabricated storytelling hurdles placed between her and her debut, Victor's vindication is the last thing on our minds. Félicie deserves better. So does dance. 

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Leap! (2017)

Rated PG for some impolite humor, and action.

Elle Fanning as Félicie Milliner (voice)

Nat Wolff as Victor (voice)

Carly Rae Jepsen as Odette (voice)

Maddie Ziegler as Camille Le Haut (voice)

Mel Brooks as Mustachioed Creep (voice)

Julie Khaner as Regine Le Haut (voice)

Terrence Scammell as Merante (voice)

Joe Sheridan as Director of Opera (voice)

Tamir Kapelian as Rudolph / Mathurin (voice)

• Eric Summer

Writer (original idea)

Writer (original story).

• Laurent Zeitoun
• Carol Noble

Cinematographer

• Jericca Cleland
• Yvann Thibaudeau
• Klaus Badelt

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2016, Kids & family/Comedy, 1h 29m

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Critics Consensus

From its bland story to its unremarkable animation, Leap! does little to distinguish itself from a long list of like-minded -- and superior -- family-friendly alternatives. Read critic reviews

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Leap videos, leap   photos.

Best friends Félicie and Victor hatch a plan to escape from their rural orphanage in 19th-century France. Félicie dreams of becoming a ballerina, while Victor wants to use his brainpower to invent things. After busting out, Félicie makes her way to the Paris Opera where she joins a class of highly trained dancers who are auditioning for the lead in a production of "The Nutcracker."

Rating: PG (Some Impolite Humor|Action)

Genre: Kids & family, Comedy, Adventure, Animation

Original Language: English

Director: Eric Summer , Éric Warin

Producer: Laurent Zeitoun , Yann Zenou , Nicolas Duval-Adassovsky , Andre Rouleau , Valérie d'Auteuil

Writer: Carol Noble , Eric Summer , Laurent Zeitoun

Release Date (Theaters): Aug 25, 2017  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Nov 7, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA): $21.8M

Runtime: 1h 29m

Distributor: Weinstein Co.

Production Co: Gaumont, Quad Productions, Caramel Films, Main Journey, M6 Films

Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, SDDS, Stereo

Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Cast & Crew

Elle Fanning

Félicie Voice

Victor Voice

Carly Rae Jepsen

Odette Voice

Maddie Ziegler

Camille Voice

Luteau Voice

Kate McKinnon

Regine, Mother Superior, Felicie's Mother Voice

Tamir Kapelian

Rudolph, Mathurin Voice

Julie Khaner

Regine Voice

Joe Sheridan

Director of Opera Voice

Elana Dunkelman

Dora, Rosita Voice

Shoshana Sperling

Dane DeHaan

Terrence Scammell

Merante Voice

Jamie Watson

Greasy Guard , Janitor Voice

Bronwen Mantel

Mother Superior Voice

Eric Summer

Carol Noble

Screenwriter

Laurent Zeitoun

Nicolas Duval-Adassovsky

Andre Rouleau

Valérie d'Auteuil

Jean Aubert

Executive Producer

Jericca Cleland

Cinematographer

Yvann Thibaudeau

Film Editing

Klaus Badelt

Original Music

Robyn Klein

Lucie Robitaille

Bonnie Timmermann

Cyril Holtz

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Critic Reviews for Leap!

Audience reviews for leap.

An awkward and choppily paced animated film, with soaring dancing sequences but tone deaf screenwriting and irritating characters. Voiceovers don't match up with the animated mouths and the whole affair is misjudged morally, accounting an audition for a role as a kind of elimination Survivor competition, and a misguided climax. It's a wholly lower-tier animation. Rating: 35

There is nothing particularly memorable about Leap! an animated film being released by The Weinstein Co. that was originally titled Ballerina when it premiered in France and the United Kingdom last winter. That said, there is nothing particularly offensive about it either. Rather, Leap! is a sincere attempt to re-visit and reiterate age old lessons to the younger generations that continue to be born and require reassurance that they too can accomplish their dreams with hard work and dedication. That is essentially what Leap! comes to be as it sells the underdog story of a young girl who overcomes obstacles such as being an orphan in order to accomplish her dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. The film earns some credibility and points for uniqueness by taking the chance of placing itself in a period setting for no other reason than writer/directors Éric Summer and Éric Warinwhich wanted to which would seem to inherently be a reason for youngsters to disengage, but alas the movie chugs along not missing a beat despite the fact parents who have seen any movie ever will be able to guess the beats Leap! will seemingly follow. This never becomes an issue though, as the film sets its audience up to accept this then revels in the setting allowing it to influence the different approaches the movie is able to illustrate in regards to our two protagonists key passions. Felicie (Elle Fanning) with her dancing and Victor (Dane DeHaan) who is an inventor with an affinity for devices that might help us to one day fly. All of this endears us to the two of them immediately as not only are they orphaned and living in the midst of the late-1880's, but despite as much they have hopes and dreams and are bound to find a way out of their situation no matter how difficult Luteau (Mel Brooks), the groundskeeper at the orphanage, fights to keep them in line. The groundwork is laid early for what the viewer can expect as far as narrative goes as well as for how Summer and Warinwhich will handle the craft of this type of storytelling that relies on such unsurprising, but well-intentioned clichés. What Leap! has in its back pocket is that none of these obvious or typically telling factors corrupt the ever-glowing optimism that it holds and delivers through to its predictable, but appropriately cheery conclusion. read the whole review at www.reviewsfromabed.com

With a movie that has nothing to do with what the title suggests it should have been otherwise so, Leap! fails to set promises and doesn't even know what it's trying to be or even doing in the first place. That money should be used for something else if you're planning to waste money on this backfiring movie that unfortunately attempts to be something else.

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

An orphan girl dreams of becoming a ballerina and flees her rural Brittany for Paris, where she passes for someone else and accedes to the position of pupil at the Grand Opera House. An orphan girl dreams of becoming a ballerina and flees her rural Brittany for Paris, where she passes for someone else and accedes to the position of pupil at the Grand Opera House. An orphan girl dreams of becoming a ballerina and flees her rural Brittany for Paris, where she passes for someone else and accedes to the position of pupil at the Grand Opera House.

• Eric Summer
• Laurent Zeitoun
• Carol Noble
• Elle Fanning
• Dane DeHaan
• Carly Rae Jepsen
• 123 User reviews
• 101 Critic reviews
• 48 Metascore
• 1 win & 1 nomination

• (as Terence Scammel)

• Director of Opera

• (as Elena Dunkleman)
• (as Soshana Sperling)
• Greasy Guard
• Mother Superior

• (US version)
• (as Ricardo Sanchez)

• (uncredited)

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia The Statue of Liberty is shown light green- it's current oxidized state. During construction and for a few years after it would have been a shiny copperish bronze color.
• Goofs The Statue of Liberty is shown as being already green when it should be brown. The bronze didn't deteriorate to green until around 1900.

Victor : [watching Felicie dance around the Irish bar] Wow!

[Love-struck, he tosses her a rose. Felicie reaches up to catch it, but loses her balance and falls onto a table. Merante, who was seated nearby, stands up and removes his hat. Felicie gasps in fear]

Mérante : [sternly] I hope that tomorrow you act with a little more dignity.

[starts to walk out]

Mérante : Anyway, tonight was...

[puts his hat back on and smiles]

Mérante : A GOOD performance.

Felicie : [flattered] Thank you, sir.

• Crazy credits The title doesn't appear until the end of the film.
• Connections Featured in CTV National News: Episode dated 17 February 2017 (2017)
• Soundtracks You Know It's About You Written by Chris Braide and Wrabel (as Stephen Wrabel) Performed by Chris Braide (as Magical Thinker) featuring Wrabel (as Stephen Wrabel) String arrangement by Klaus Badelt and Christopher Carmichael Produced and mixed by Chris Braide (as Christopher Braide)

User reviews 123

• SpoilerAlertReviews
• Dec 25, 2016
• How long is Leap!? Powered by Alexa
• August 25, 2017 (United States)
• Official site (Japan)
• Main Journey
• Caramel Films
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $30,000,000 (estimated)
• $24,702,560
• Feb 26, 2017
• $109,573,511

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 29 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Rated PG for some impolite humor and action In theaters 8/30 Ok for kids 6+ Reel Preview: 5 of 5 Reels.

It's 1884 and a young orphaned girl arrives in Paris from Brittany. Félicie Milliner is 11 and has no money, but she does have one big, passionate dream: to become a dancer. With nothing left to lose, Félicie takes a big risk: she "borrows a spoiled brat's identity and enters the Opera Ballet School. Mentored by the tough and mysterious cleaner Odette, Félicie learns that talent is not enough – it takes hard work and friendship to be better than her ruthless, conniving fellow students. Felicie's inventive, exhausting and charismatic best friend Victor also has a dream: to become a famous inventor. Together, they encourage each other to reach for the stars. Elle Fanning, Nat Wolff, Carly Rae Jepsen and Kate McKinnon are among the voice talent for this inspiring movie. 

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"Humdrum Child Adventure with Bad Messages"

What You Need To Know:

(RoRo, V, A, MM) Very strong romantic worldview (follow your dreams no matter what moral values you break, combined with the idea that the ends justify the means); no foul language, but toilet humor including jokes about flatulence, bird poop, and a character says they wet themselves; multiple scenes of cartoon violence including a motorcycle chase, train chase, a villainous character leading the protagonists to danger, a cartoonish moment of knives being thrown, and multiple instances of a clumsy character injuring himself for comedic effect; no sex; no nudity; children visit a bar where men are drinking; no drugs; morality problem with the main character lying to make her dreams come true (which ultimately pays off without her learning a lesson).

More Detail:

LEAP is a tale of two orphans in the 1880’s with big dreams, but when they finally escape the orphanage and flee to Paris they discover that following their dreams is a lot harder than it seems. While LEAP seems like an innocent, family-friendly tale, it leaves much to be desired. Most of the humor is too benign for adults, and while the movie may be fun for youth, it sends a dangerous message that anything is acceptable when following your dreams, even lying.

Félicie and Victor have lived in an orphanage outside of Paris their whole life, but always had dreams of something more. Félicie dreams of being a ballerina, while Victor has his sights set on being a great inventor. When Victor finds out about a Ballet school in Paris where Félicie might train, the two finally decide to run away and their adventure begins. Almost immediately upon arriving in Paris, the two get separated, and the movie follows Félicie on her adventure to become a ballerina.

Félicie sneaks into the ballet school, but is quickly turned away. Being a ballerina is going to be harder than she thought. She quickly befriends Odette, the cleaning woman who lives with a villainous aristocratic family. The daughter of the family is Camille, a spoiled girl, who does nothing but train to be a ballerina and is expecting an acceptance letter from the school. When Camille offends Félicie by breaking her prized music box, Félicie takes matters into her own hands, stealing Camille’s letter and impersonating her in order to train and audition for the Nutcracker ballet. Will she be able to prove herself and keep up her secret identity?

While there are some light and fun moments in LEAP, it is ultimately a forgettable movie. The comedy relies on slapstick or toilet humor that may be funny for children, but doesn’t provide anything of substance for adults. Félicie and Victor achieve their goals rather quickly, and from that point, the movie meanders through forced conflict and a series of subplots that simply fill time.

The main flaw of LEAP is inherent in its premise: Félicie must lie in order to fulfill her dreams, which sends the message that immoral behavior is acceptable if it is for a greater good. Unfortunately for her, Félicie’s secret gets out despite her continued effort to continue the ruse, but she is not taught a lesson about honesty or coming clean in the process. From then, she is able to rely on her passion, not necessarily her skills, to get her to where she wants to go. Parents should be strongly cautioned against taking their young children to a “family-friendly” movie that ultimately teaches disobedience to adults and lying above hard work to follow dreams.

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Dove Review

Watching “Leap!” felt a little like going back in time. Not necessarily because of the setting of the story in 19th century France, but more because the nature of the movie felt like 20 years ago. Actually, in a nice way. The dialogue was simple and the characters were a bit rough; and I took a deliberate mental shift to settle into the foreign-feeling production. That’s when Leap! leapt.

It’s easy to sit back, and enjoy this delightful story of a young orphan’s dream to dance ballet. The animation is quirky and gorgeous. It’s France and the ballet – what’s not to like?! The story is of Félicie and Victor, escaping their oppressive orphanage run by a stern Catholic-esque nun (complete with a goofy but well-intended sidekick) to pursue their fantastic dreams in the boundless thrill of Paris. We adventure with Félicie as she faces hardship and obstacles to becoming a dancer and at a pivotal moment, she seizes an opportunity to step into another dancer’s shoes. Literally. She steals the identity of the spoiled rotten Camille and that bad decision sets the stage for a twisty story that’s peppered with a great mix of good, evil, raucous and beautiful characters.

The orphans seem to be high school age, but they look too young for the teeny romantic story that gets clunked in the middle of the action. Overall, the characters are drawn better than they’re developed, so go in with a expectation of a light, breezy adventure that’s well-suited for the whole family, and you will leave with some nice examples of kindness, hard work and the reward of following the true passion of your heart.

Dove Rating Details

Man on motorcycle chasing children; girl throws music box out a window and it breaks; woman trying to hurt and kill a young girl.

Boy kisses woman's hand; young boy and young girl kiss; woman and a man kiss.

Name-calling, such as little rat, idiot, liar and stupid; Statue of Liberty called statue of puberty.

A pub scene.

Being rude to others; taking something that does not belong to you; lying about one's identity.

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‘leap’: film review.

An orphaned French country girl pursues her ballet dreams in 'Leap!,' an animated feature starring Elle Fanning, Nat Wolff, Kate McKinnon and Carly Rae Jepsen.

By Sheri Linden

Sheri Linden

Senior Copy Editor/Film Critic

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With a few well-executed pirouettes and a few clunky ones, Leap! puts a contemporary follow-your-dreams spin (i.e., choose a career early, kiddos!) on a basic fairy-tale template. But though the mix of poppy power anthems and Tchaikovsky isn’t seamless and the familiar plot points are less than transporting, there’s a beating heart to this tween story to match its exuberant dance sequences. Filling a family-film void in the late-summer market, it will delight aspiring terpsichoreans without boring their grown-ups. 

The France-Canada production, made on a relatively low budget by Hollywood animation standards, is a predictable story propelled by expressive character design, spirited voice work and radiant backdrops of late-19th-century Paris. Released this past winter in a number of international markets under the title Ballerina , it has undergone a bit of recasting for stateside audiences, adding Nat Wolff , Kate McKinnon and Mel Brooks to its voice troupe. 

Release date: Aug 25, 2017

In a cartoon version of a drone shot, directors Eric Summer and Eric Warin open the story by swooping over a storybook landscape that’s dominated not by a dazzling castle but a cheerless orphanage. There, in the countryside of Brittany, best friends Felicie (Elle Fanning), an 11-year-old with a driving passion to dance, and Victor (Wolff), an aspiring and indefatigable inventor, manage at last to escape, despite the walleyed vigilance of the institution’s overseer, Monsieur Luteau (Brooks). 

They arrive in a City of Light where the Eiffel Tower is under construction, and Victor soon lands a job as a gofer in the atelier of Gustave Eiffel himself (unseen). Felicie , meanwhile, through persistence and a bit of subterfuge, finds herself vying for the role of Clara in the Paris Opera Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker.” 

Amid all the lovely, evocative visuals — the grand interiors of the Opera, the streetlights reflected in rain-slick cobblestones — a blunt modern vibe infiltrates the fin de siècle atmosphere, in the form of belted pop tunes on the soundtrack, Felicie’s millennial garb, the usual assortment of grade-school scatology. Most conspicuously, the story of yearning gets boiled down to a reality-style elimination at the esteemed Opera Ballet School, where Felicie rises to the rigors of the legendary master Merante (Terrence Scammell ). She scales the learning curve with fantasy-land velocity, though she will fumble and suffer the requisite setbacks on her way to triumphant self-realization. 

Given real-girl pluck, humor and sincerity by Fanning, Felicie encounters friends as well as foes along her path. Among the former, notably, is the doleful Odette (voiced with especially affecting nuance by Carly Rae Jepsen ), who works as a cleaner at the Opera and rather transparently harbors a heartbreaking backstory. 

On the adversarial side are a monstrous stage mother and her bratty daughter: the haughty restaurateur Regine (Kate McKinnon , in a state of perpetual high dudgeon, with a touch of Cruella De Vil) and Camille ( Maddie Ziegler). Doing triple duty, McKinnon also voices the smaller roles of the orphanage’s buzzkill mother superior and Felicie’s beloved maman , seen briefly in one of the girl’s dreams. 

Falling somewhere between friend and foe is rising ballet star Rudolph ( Tamir Kapelian ), a Russian teen who’s comically self-impressed. His romantic interest in Felicie is one of several aspects of the story that make her seem older than 11; her fearless performance in a saloon is another, although the scene’s Celtic vitality is a nice reminder of her Breton roots. 

The screenplay, credited to Carol Noble, Laurent Zeitoun and co-director Summer, pounds the “never give up” drum far too often, rather than letting Felicie and Victor’s scrappiness, hard work — and luck — speak for themselves. But the film’s less literal asides can be enchanting, including the dream-sequence snippets and the music box that Felicie cherishes like a talisman, with good reason. 

The trefoil spiral that adorns the box is among the lovelier touches in the inspired visual design by art director Florent Masurel. Like the night clouds, twinkling fireflies and architectural details that enrich the setting, its poetry counterbalances the run-of-the-mill plot. 

Above all, Felicie and Victor are likable rooting interests, and there’s real poignancy in the girl’s deepening bond with Odette. The dream-come-true ending may be a given, but along the way Summer and Warin have conjured exhilarating moments without a single talking animal or product placement posing as narrative.

Distributor: The Weinstein Co. Production companies: Quad Productions, Main Journey, Caramel Films, L’Atelier Animation, Gaumont , M6 Films Cast: Elle Fanning, Nat Wolff, Maddie Ziegler, Mel Brooks, Carly Rae Jepsen , Kate McKinnon , Terrence Scammell , Tamir Kapelian , Joe Sheridan, Elana Dunkelman , Shoshana Sperling , Ricardo Sanchez Directors: Eric Summer, Eric Warin Screenwriters: Carol Noble, Laurent Zeitoun , Eric Summer Story by: Eric Summer, Laurent Zeitoun Producers: Laurent Zeitoun , Yann Zenou , Nicolas Duval Adassovsky , Andre Rouleau, Valerie d’Auteuil Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, David C. Glasser , Francois-Xavier Aubague Director of photography: Jericca Cleland Art director: Florent Masurel Editor: Yvann Thibaudeau Composer: Klaus Badelt Choregraphy: Aurelie Dupont , Jeremie Belingard Director of animation: Ted Ty CG supervisor: Benoit Blouin Casting: Bonnie Timmermann , Lucie Robitaille , Robyn Klein

Rated PG, 89 minutes

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Reviewed by: Jessica D. Lovett CONTRIBUTOR

About orphans in the Bible

POVERTY —What does the Bible say about the poor? Answer

poor in the Bible

Living with a disability

Dreams of becoming great a something you love

About dancing in the Bible

Identity theft

Camille is made to practice dance at home for hours each day.

The hard work, heavy training and dedication requirted to succeed as a ballet dancer

Parents who are obsessive and push children too hard

Dancing on rooftops is dangerous.

Phe importance of humility

importance of respecting those in authority over us

dealing wisely with difficult people

“L eap!” is a fun CGI-animated kids movie about two orphans , Felicie and Victor, who escape their Brittany orphanage and hop a train bound for Paris to fulfill their dreams of becoming a famous ballerina and a celebrated inventor, respectively. It feeds the audience the usual, benign “follow your dreams” kind of preaching that is prevalent in so many kid’s movies, yet mixes in some truly amazing animation, especially in the way of the architecture and landscapes of 1879 France.

The details in this movie’s animation is where its wonder and watch-ability for adults lies, right down to the chipped paint on the orphanage’s metal beds and the glow from iconic glowing streetlights of Paris. It gently borrows some elements from other familiar orphan movies, namely the dizzying ladder chase scene from “Annie” (1982) and the motif of a music box being key to the protagonist’s past from “ Anastasia ” (1997).

Those characteristics, plus the fact that all three movie orphans I just mentioned all have bright red hair, makes “Leap!” feel a little path-worn for adults. Kids, however, will love the high-flying action on homemade glider machines, energetic dance scenes, simple slapstick humor, and the overall vibe of child-empowerment that this movie provides.

As Félicie tries to pursue her goal of becoming a ballerina, first by being accepted as a student at a famous ballet school, she climbs the ladder of success through dishonesty . She is admitted to the school under false pretenses , stealing the identity of her rival, Camille. In the end, she is slightly chastised for her lying but rewarded anyway by her teacher due to her hard work and persistence. Victor also lies to Félicie while trying to impress her. He pretends to be the assistant engineer to a famous inventor when he is really acting as an errand boy/janitor.

Is it really okay to commit crimes, take a false identity and tell lies and do physically risky things to fulfill a dream?

Or is much more important to do what is good and right ?

What is sin ?

How do I know what is right from wrong? Answer

How can I decide whether a particular activity is wrong? Answer

For some odd reason, this movie is also obsessed with roofs… There is dancing on roofs, falling on roofs, surfing down the side of roofs, escaping various locations by the roof, jumping off roofs, even sleeping on roofs… So, if you bring a kid to this movie, obviously make sure that they know that it isn’t a good idea to sleep overnight on a roof.

There are also a lot of music numbers involving dramatically throwing various dishes, which I wouldn’t want a child to emulate.

The movie teaches persistence, loyalty to friends and teachers, and the value of humility . Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen) is a maid who used to be a ballet dancer who takes in Félicie. Odette looks and sounds exactly like Idina Menzel , so much so that it must have been intentional by the filmmakers, and I was taken aback at the credits that it wasn’t her.

There is one moment where Camille’s evil mother is pressuring her to practice her ballet past her breaking point, and the mother says, “I’m going to get that part!” Her character serves as a pointed reminder to parents to not live vicariously through the victories of their children.

There is also emphasis on pursuing something, like dancing, for the right reasons rather than merely for sheer hostile competitiveness. “Leap!” buys into the trope of teaching kids that if they want something the most and are the most passionate person vying for that thing that they will surely get it , which is at best idealistic and at worst deceptive.

As far as objectionable content, one character tells Félicie that her dancing “s*cks.” Luteau ( Mel Brooks ), a worker at the orphanage, and Regine (Julie Khaner), Camille’s spider-like mother, are both menacing villains, Luteau being inexplicably made righteous at the end of the film, changing his tyrannical tune for no apparent reason.

Regine chases Félicie with a hammer and a wrench, trying to kill her, rather than let her win a ballet role over her daughter, Camille. This chase sounds scary, but is more reminiscent of comical villains, in that Regine gets continually thwarted as the kids prevail.

There are scenes in bars and lots of flatulence jokes , one even as far as to light one with a match in one bar scene. A character also says he “wet” himself, and there are lots of comical hits, bangs, pratfalls, and slapstick moments.

However, do not go to this film thinking of it as a fun, educational way teach kids about 1879. Being a bit of a history buff, there were lots of forehead slap moments for me . For instance, Felicie wears skin tight short shorts for most of the movie (with tights underneath), which weren’t worn until the 1950s.

The film shows the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower as being built simultaneously. First of all, the Statue of Liberty was created in pieces, not as the whole seen in the movie, and it was also not its iconic green initially. According to The New York Times *, “The layers on the statue are not corrosion; it is a thin protective layer that covers the surface of exposed copper known as a patina. This green patina began gradually covering the surface of Miss Liberty just after 1900, and was noted in the press at least as early 1902. By 1906, the goddess of liberty was entirely green. Before the color change, Miss Liberty was copper colored, but not shiny.” The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York City in 1886, and the Eiffel began construction in 1887—they did not cross paths.

The Statue of Liberty poem is also recited in the film, which wasn’t added to the base of the statue until two decades after the statue was dedicated, in 1903. The Quebec flag is shown, which wasn’t invented until 1948, and the “Gwenn ha du” flag, invented in 1923, is also shown. Luteau also has an internal combustion engine motorcycle which wasn’t invented until 1885.

In addition, there is a Sherlock Holmes joke, and the first Sherlock story wasn’t even published until 1887, almost a decade after this movie is supposedly set. The filmmakers would’ve done better to not set the date of the movie as exactly 1879, but just let it reside in some made-up Victorian-ish era and leave it at that. Giving it a specific time stole some of the magic from me that I might of granted it and distracted from the story itself.

Please be aware of the possible trailers before the movie that might seem a bit scarier for little ones than the actual feature film. At my viewing, there was a trailer for “Coco,” the new Disney/Pixar Day of the Dead themed movie that has some frightening skeletons and other death-related imagery. In the trailer I saw, a young boy asks a skeleton at a desk who these other skeletons who are following him are and the desk-skeleton says to the stricken boy, “This is your family!” The kid then looks from the smiling skeletons to a family photo of himself with his family, with his dad’s head partially ripped off the photo. That’s about as dark as it gets, I’d say, showing a little kid his dead family in animated skeleton form.

There was also a preview for the new Lego “Ninjago” film, which has as much fast-paced, ninja fighting action and crude, pants-being-pulled-down kind of humor that could possibly be smashed into the short trailer. The other trailer featured was for “Duck, Duck, Goose,” a movie about an immature goose being pressured by his peers to grow up, whose tagline is: “If he doesn’t shape up, they’re all plucked.” Wow.

That said, this is a mostly pleasant way to spend an hour and a half with your ballet-obsessed little daughter or niece, and the roguish Victor is enough to satisfy her brother who had to tag along, too. It is a colorful, lightly fun adventure with a little romance and a little nonthreatening banner waving about “following your heart” and “following your dreams” and all those kinds of hollow yet cutesy, non-specific, feel-good kinds of sentiments. It is not a life-changing film, but kids will love it while they’re watching it.

* source: “Answers about the Statue of Liberty.” https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/answers-about-the-statue-of-liberty/. The New York Times . July 1, 2009.

• Violence: Minor to Moderate
• Swearwords: Mild—“stupid,” “fool,” “idiots,” “sucks,” possible OMG
• Sex/Nudity: Minor—a little flirting ana kiss

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers .

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

A rediscovered gem from Charles Burnett, plus the best films to see in L.A. this week

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Hello! I’m Mark Olsen . Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

Ahead of the opening of writer-director Alex Garland’s “Civil War” next week on April 12, I spoke to the film’s stars Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaen y about their dynamic, on-screen and off.

In the film, Dunst plays Lee, a veteran photojournalist attempting to make her way across a war-ravaged America to an interview with the president, holed up in the White House. She meets aspiring photographer Jessie, played by Spaeny, and takes her along. While the film is a provocative powder keg about the polarization dividing people around the world (its nightmare scenario seems all too plausible), “Civil War” is also a tender examination of legacy and what we leave behind.

The relationship depicted in the film between the two women, each drawing something from the other, is mirrored somewhat by the friendship off-screen between Dunst and Spaeny. In fact it was Dunst who recommended Spaeny to filmmaker Sofia Coppola for the title role in “Priscilla.”

“Those parallels aren’t at all how I feel I would talk to Cailee about being an actress or something,” said Dunst of the connections between their characters and themselves. “But it wasn’t something I was thinking about while we were making it because it’s kind of corny to think about in that way. Like, ‘I’m the mentor and you are the mentee.’ It’s so much deeper than that.”

Says Spaeny, “A lot of the times I meet other actors, especially actors who have been working in the industry for a while, they have a sort of wall up. Kirsten doesn’t have that. She wears her heart on her sleeve and it makes you feel like you can be your 100% self around her.”

We’ll have more on the film next week.

UCLA Festival of Preservation

The 21st edition of the biennial UCLA Festival of Preservation opens tonight with the West-Coast premiere of the restoration of Charles Burnett’s 1999 film “The Annihilation of Fish.” After the film first played at the Toronto International Film Festival, a single negative review in Variety scared off any potential buyers and the project languished in limbo. It has never been distributed on 35mm, DCP, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, television or streaming. Having changed hands a number of times over the years, the rights and elements for the film were eventually retrieved in part through California bankruptcy court.

A gently comic, humanist tale, the film follows two aging eccentrics, Obediah Fish (James Earl Jones) and Poinsettia (Lynn Redgrave), who meet and begin a tentative romance when they are neighbors in a boarding house run by Mrs. Muldroone (Margot Kidder).

The evening will also be a celebration of Burnett’s upcoming 80th birthday, with the filmmaker in conversation with critic Elvis Mitchell before the screening. Burnett, whose films include 1978’s “Killer of Sheep” and 1990’s “To Sleep With Anger,” was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2017 . In a statement announcing the restoration of “The Annihilation of Fish,” Martin Scorsese said, “Charles Burnett is one of the finest filmmakers in this country. His pictures speak in a cinematic voice that is uniquely and completely his own. For much too long, ‘The Annihilation of Fish’ has been in limbo. … I’m so happy that it’s finally ready for the world to discover.”

When the film played in September 2000 as part of the Silver Lake Film Festival, The Times’ Kevin Thomas wrote positively about it , noting it “is so theatrical in nature that it could go fatally awry at any moment, lapsing into excess or mere whimsy. But the solid subtext to Anthony C. Winkler’s script and the ability of director Charles Burnett to see Winkler’s seeming crazies steadfastly as real people first of all allows Lynn Redgrave, James Earl Jones and Margot Kidder to soar. … Poinsettia is a would-be Blanche DuBois made brave and tenacious by love, and Redgrave surpasses her Oscar-nominated performance in ‘Gods and Monsters.’”

Kenneth Turan runs down a number of other highlights from this year’s festival , noting, “It’s not just gorgeous new versions of films you’ve never seen or seen only in diminished condition. The UCLA event inevitably includes remarkable movies you never even knew existed, films that expand our knowledge of the extent of the vast cinematic universe.”

Among those titles Turan spotlights are the 1925 silent German version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” that was thought to be completely lost until a print was discover buried under a cellar floor coated in machine oil somewhere in Oregon. There is also the 1952 film noir “No Abras Nunca Esta Puerta/Never Open That Door” from Argentina.

The festival closes with “Smog,” an Italian-language film from 1962 shot in Los Angeles. As Turan writes, “The plot, about a tourist taking in the city between flights, is not spectacular, but the extensive black-and-white views of how things looked here 60 years ago are a knockout. You may not have known about this film, but watching it will widen your horizons, something this festival has always specialized in.”

The inaugural Los Angeles Festival of Movies is underway

The first Los Angeles Festival of Movies kicked off Thursday night with the Los Angeles premiere of Jane Schoenbrun’s evocative coming-of-age saga “I Saw the TV Glow.”

“This is special,” said Schoenbrun introducing the screening. “It’s the opening night of the opening edition of the festival. So that’s trivia.”

The festival continues through the weekend, with other highlights including the docu-fiction hybrid “Gasoline Rainbow,” the restoration of Niki de Saint Phalle’s 1976 “Un rêve plus long que la nuit” presented by curator Miriam Bale, and the closing night world premiere of Conner O’Malley and Danny Scharar’s satirical “Rap World.”

A real discovery of the fest might land on Saturday afternoon with the Los Angeles premiere of the 4K restoration of Bridgett M. Davis’ 1996 “Naked Acts,” with the filmmaker in person in conversation with Black Film Archives’ Maya S. Cade. Initially self-distributed, the film is an exploration of Black female sexuality and identity and the struggles to live a creative life, told through the story of an actor grappling with whether to perform a nude scene.

Saturday will also see a conversation between filmmakers Raven Jackson and Kahlil Joseph, while Sunday will feature a talk between musician Kim Gordon and author Rachel Kushner.

In our interview back in February announcing the festival , co-founder and co-producer Sarah Winshall said, “What we’re trying to do is treat Los Angeles like a small town in some ways, and create a festival for a small community that is really excited and passionate.”

Other points of interest

Bertrand Bonello’s ‘The Beast’

The French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello has become a real favorite around these parts, as his films often cast an eye to the past while also capturing a sense of the anxieties of what it is to live today. Two of his best films, “House of Pleasures” and “Nocturama,” are currently available on the Criterion Channel .

His electrifying new movie “The Beast” is in theaters now. Loosely adapting a 1903 Henry James novella, Bonello fractures the story to take place in three time periods: Paris in 1910, Los Angeles in 2014 and back to Paris in 2044. Characters named Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) and Louis (George MacKay) are kept apart from each other by different circumstances each time.

I spoke to Bonello, MacKay and Seydoux for a story that will be publishing soon. The production actually shot only a couple of days in Los Angeles, with a house in the South of France standing in for a home in the Hollywood Hills. Yet even shooting in L.A. for a short while was meaningful for Bonello.

As he told me, “I really loved it because it’s like the history of cinema. When you arrive and wherever you put your camera, of course it reminds you of so much. You’re in the heart of the cinema, in a way.”

Reviewing “The Beast” for The Times, Tim Grierson wrote that it “may ostensibly be about artificial intelligence , but it’s really about the terror of being alive.”

Jean-Pierre Melville’s ‘Le Samour a ï’

I am quite sure we have talked here about Jean-Pierre Melville and his masterful “Le Samouraï” more than once. But to me it is a movie I simply never tire of. It endlessly reveals itself: a philosophical meditation on not just the gangster film but one’s relationship to life and work. A new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative opens this week at the Laemmle Royal and Laemmle Glendale.

John Woo famously said the film is “the closest thing to a perfect movie that I have ever seen,” and it’s easy to see why. Melville pares down his storytelling to the barest essentials as he follows a Parisian hit man, Jef Costello (played by Alain Delon, his impossibly handsome good looks arguably never put to better use). Jef must avoid being picked up by the police after a perfectly planned job goes awry.

Writing about the film in 1997 , Kenneth Turan said, “Despite [his] attention to detail, Melville was the first to almost brag that ‘I am careful never to be realistic.’ Stylization was his overriding concern, down to the white film editor’s gloves he has all his protagonists, Jef Costello included, put on before committing crimes. Equally artificial is the quote from ‘The Book of Bushido’ that starts the film: ‘There is no greater solitude than the samurai’s unless it be the tiger in the jungle.’ It sounds too perfect to be real, and in fact Melville claimed he made it up. However, what is genuine about ‘Le Samourai,’ the passion that Melville felt for this quintessentially American genre, is strong enough to make this one of the glories of the modern gangster film, elegant, romantic and unforgettable.”

Alice Rohrwacher’s ‘La Chimera’

Though it first opened locally last week, Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera” has expanded to more theaters and is easily among the best new releases of the year so far. We didn’t want to let it be overlooked here.

Set in Italy in the 1980s, the film follows British expat Arthur (Josh O’Connor) who has a knack for uncovering Etruscan artifacts that he can sell on the black market. Living on life’s margins, he is haunted by a past love as he tries to find a way forward.

In his review of the movie for the paper, Carlos Aguilar wrote , “In a way, it allows the viewer to traverse time and space, one luminous image at a time. A staunch humanist, Rohrwacher makes movies that are primed for immortality. If her latest is somehow discovered 2,000 years from now among the ruins of what we once called civilization, it would be an astoundingly flattering portrait of us. … Mournful yet exuberant, “La Chimera” is a towering work of art presented with the unassuming invitation of a warming summer morning.”

In an interview with Esther Zuckerman for The Times , Rohrwacher said, “Maybe my films are not perfect — maybe a machine could do that, but that’s not what I’m after. What I’m after is making films that are alive and that are full of life and that constantly have something new to show you, something new to tell, and indeed you can watch them over and over again and there’s always something, some kind of life that comes to you from the movie.”

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Mark Olsen writes about all kinds of movies for the Los Angeles Times as both a feature writer and reviewer.

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