The Kingdom

On the pale, sun soaked island of Corsica in the summer of 1995, the teenage Lesia is plucked from her sheltered life, and taken to a remote villa where her fugitive mob boss father, Pierre-Paul, is hiding out. Pierre Paul is a menacing figure, a near stranger to Lesia, and at first she feels trapped by the secrecy and danger which defines his life. But when an assassination attempt sets a chain of bloody vendettas in motion, Lesia and Paul-Pierre are forced to go on the run together. As they flee, Lesia becomes closer than ever with her father, and as they wade together through the violent underworld which he is entrenched in, his devotion to revenge begins to rub off on her. The Kingdom is a story of blood: blood split, blood sought, and the blood which binds us.

"Fresh score. Directed with razor-sharp, naturalistic precision... The Kingdom marks the arrival of a bold new talent who’s able to spin a gripping crime thriller while channeling real emotion on screen." - Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

"Remarkable... A simmering and intense coming-of-age story." - Ryan Lattanzio, Indiewire

"[A] Cannes standout... In his sure-handed and chilling first narrative feature, director Julien Colonna examines the personal cost of the gangster lifestyle — not just the drastically shortened life expectancy, but also the diminished quality of fugitives’ remaining time, so much of which must be spent covering their tracks and looking over their shoulders... Compared with the “Godfather” films (this decidedly anti-glamorous portrait is practically the antithesis of Coppola’s approach), “The Kingdom” reframes things from the vantage of the Sofia Coppola character. It’s like “The Sopranos,” as seen through Meadow’s eyes. And though we’re all familiar with the lesson that the cost of vengeance is a never-ending circle of violence, Colonna’s retelling lands like a bullet in the head." - Peter Debruge, Variety