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Child's Play

Child's Play

Drama · Mystery · Thriller · 1972

At an exclusive boys' school, a new gym teacher is drawn into a feud between two older instructors, and he discovers that everything at the school is not quite as staid, tranquil and harmless as it seems.

Movie details

Child's Play

“You only lose once.”

1972 Drama · Mystery · Thriller 1h 40m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.2 / 10

1.7K votes

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

At an exclusive boys' school, a new gym teacher is drawn into a feud between two older instructors, and he discovers that everything at the school is not quite as staid, tranquil and harmless as it seems.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Child's Play?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Sidney Lumet

Written by

Leon Prochnik

James Mason

James Mason

Jerome Malley

Robert Preston

Robert Preston

Joseph Dobbs

Beau Bridges

Beau Bridges

Paul Reis

Ron Weyand

Ron Weyand

Father Mozian

Charles White

Charles White

Father Griffin

David Rounds

David Rounds

Father Penny

Kate Harrington

Kate Harrington

Mrs. Carter

Court is in session

Put Child's Play on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.