Phantom Boy

"My name is Leo and I have a secret"

2015 1h 22m FR

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 76

AnimationFantasyMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

At a hospital in New York, Alex, a police officer, meets Leo, a boy who has the ability to get out of his body and pass through the walls like a ghost. Both team up with Mary, an intrepid journalist, to capture a disfigured villain who terrorizes the city.

“My name is Leo and I have a secret”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Édouard Baer
Alex Tanguy (voice)
Jackie Berroyer
The Mole (voice)
Audrey Tautou
Mary Delauney (voice)
Jean-Pierre Marielle
The Man with the Broken Face (voice)
Gaspard Gagnol
Léo (voice)
Noa Bernaoui-Savreux
Titi (voice)
Patrick Ridremont
The Nervous Little Man / The Safecracker / The Exterminator (voice)
Patrick Descamps
The Giant (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Alain Gagnol
Writers: Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli
Languages: French
Countries: Belgium, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

82 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Belgium, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Alain Gagnol, shot by Izù Troin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Serge Besset. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hervé Guichard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Édouard Baer and Jackie Berroyer and Audrey Tautou carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "My name is Leo and I have a secret".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alain Gagnol directs. Izù Troin behind the camera. Serge Besset scores. Hervé Guichard cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Belgium, France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

182 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released 11 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: Belgium, France.
4Directed by Alain Gagnol, shot by Izù Troin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Serge Besset. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Hervé Guichard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Édouard Baer and Jackie Berroyer and Audrey Tautou carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "My name is Leo and I have a secret".
9IMDB entry: tt1856057 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 76 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
11Classified under 8 themes, including "new york city", "family relationships", "man in wheelchair", "female journalist".

The technical file

Cinematography: Izù Troin
Original score: Serge Besset
Editing: Hervé Guichard
Sound: David Vranken
Runtime: 82 min · 1h 22m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Phantom Boy (2015)

Awards

CICFF Professional Jury Award for Best Animated Feature Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Alain Gagnol

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2017-01-14
★ 7/10
The supernatural 'eye in the sky'. From the directors of 'A Cat in Paris', but this film set in New York City that narrates the story of a boy with an extraordinary power. If you had liked that film, you probably would like it as well, but a little lesser. Except this is not about the art of theft, but a cop trying to catch a most dangerous criminal. It is so weird to see the New York turned into kind of a province of France as everybody in this speak French, but expected it as it's a French film. A very interesting storyline. The characters were well designed and developed. But most of the film was focused on the boy, the cop and the main villain with a dog's perspective. There's a little part of a reporter as well. So I think it should have been called 'A Dog in New York', but the dog is on the wrong side where the most of the story was narrated from. The theme was not fresh, but the way they used to tell the tale makes all the difference. I mean you can compare it to 'If I Stay' kind of plenty of other films. Except it turned into a crime-thriller. A young boy named Leo, who is hospitalised for the serious illness, has a special power to leave his body and take an invisible form, and come back again safely within some time frame. On the other side an honest cop trying to hunt down a criminal who is threatening the peace of the city gets a backlash after met with an accident. Now the cop and the boy join the hands to thwart the villain's latest attempt to bring disruption. The mission was not planned well, so how they fight the crime and its result brings to an end to the film. "I'm not hungry. It's a shame because my dad's pasta is the best in the world." This is a PG film, that means it's aimed for all the ages. But particularly for the grown ups, there's nothing much to enjoy other than cool presentation. That does not mean for all the grown ups. The sketches and the animation technics were same as the previous film. They tried to reach bigger audience worldwide from the success of their previous film, but seems not achieved that goal. As the film had many great features like the characters and the story, they have fallen short to surpass as an overall film. Even anytime I would pick 'A Cat in Paris' over this, but that does not make this one's a bad film. It kind of looks like the supernatural version of 'Eye in the Sky'. I'm not talking about the actual film, but the concept of drones to watch over the criminal activity. In here the boy acts as the main communication device. He who one day wants to be a cop, helps to solve the crime. I think the end should have been a little better. Especially from the boy's perspective about how his tale ends were very intentional. Perhaps a bit of emotions at the end would have given a better result. I advertise the 2D animations too much on my blog whenever I review them, because they are rapidly fading away art. So my big thanks to those production houses and the filmmakers who still believe in it. If you are an animation film fan, you will enjoy it, no matter you loved it or not at the end. In a simple way to say, it is a fine film for the families with kids aged ten or under. It might look like a typical detective film, but entertaining with a few good moments. So check it out if you get a chance to access it. 7/10

Production companies