Je suis le seigneur du château (English: I'm the King of the Castle) is a 1989 French drama film, directed by Régis Wargnier, loosely based on the 1970 novel I'm the King of the Castle by the English writer Susan Hill.

Plot

The film stars Régis Arpin as 10-year-old Thomas, the son of a millionaire. Together, they live a fairly isolated existence, in a mansion in rural France. His father (Jean Rochefort) hires a woman (Dominique Blanc), whose husband has been reported missing in the First Indochina War, to take care of things while he is away. The maid's son, Charles (David Behar) moves in as well, and the two parents hope that the two can become friends; they become enemies immediately after meeting each other. Once their parents fall in love, Thomas decides to make Charles, whom he views as an "invader", as miserable as possible. Je suis le seigneur du château might be compared by some to the Macaulay Culkin film The Good Son, with its similar storyline. However, whereas Culkin's character is psychotic, Arpin's character's actions attempt to serve a purpose. The movie was recently repacked with La Femme de ma vie in a 2-DVD set.