Partisan

Partisan (2015) is Ariel Kleiman's bleak drama-thriller, and you can watch it online on iFILM. On the edge of a crumbling city, Gregori has built a small commune of women and their children, with himself as the only man — father, teacher and prophet rolled into one.

Vincent Cassel's Gregori shows the kids how to grow vegetables, tend livestock and pull together as a community — and how to kill for hire. Eleven-year-old Alexander is his finest pupil, almost a son. But a new baby brother and a first flicker of doubt slowly eat away at the boy's blind devotion. The harder Alexander pushes back, the more erratic Gregori turns, and the warm little utopia tilts toward bloodshed.

First-time director Kleiman shoots it cold and quiet, letting dread build with barely a raised voice. Cassel plays the charm that hides a tyrant, while young Jeremy Chabriel holds his own with startling poise. An intimate, deeply uneasy film for viewers who like a thriller that presses with atmosphere rather than chases. Stream Partisan (2015) online on iFILM.