A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Son” (2023).
Florian Zeller had a big critical hit last year with “The Father”. Now here we have “The Son”. Expectations are high for next year’s “The Holy Ghost” (LOL).
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Peter (Hugh Jackman) is a successful corporate lawyer living with his new wife Beth (Vanessa Kirby) and their infant child. But he receives an unexpected visit from his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) who reports that their son Nicholas (Zen McGrath) hasn’t been to school in over a month. Their carefully constructed New York life starts to fall apart as they try to help the struggling 17 year-old.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC: “Mental health theme, suicide, self-harm”.)
Talent:
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Anthony Hopkins.
Directed by: Florian Zeller.
Written by: Florian Zeller & Christopher Hampton.
Jackman and Kirby get it on. (Source: Sony Pictures)
“The Son” Review:
Positives:
- There are a number of Oscar-worthy performances in here (the film mystically received zero Oscar attention). Notably, Laura Dern is effortlessly brilliant: a restaurant scene screams “Oscar reel”. Also brilliant (in a quieter role) is the wonderful Vanessa Kirby, building a really impressive CV. But acting them both off the screen is the legend that is Anthony Hopkins. Although only given a 5 minute cameo, his eviscerating delivery (“Just fucking get over it”) is twinkly brilliance. If Judd Hirsch received an Oscar nom for his 5 minutes in “The Fabelmans“, then I would put Hopkins’ scene head-to-head with that.
- I haven’t mentioned Hugh Jackman in the above. But he really is very good in this, a risky departure from his normal roles. It’s a career best from him. But the curious thing with acting is that you have to do it without actually DOING it. (“Chewie…but don’t look like your tryin’ to keep your distance. I don’t know…fly casual”.) When you put Jackman with the utter pros that are Dern, Kirby and Hopkins, he rather looks like he is acting.
- Nicholas is an UTTERLY frustrating character. Always wailing and bemoaning something…. something that he just can’t put into words. I’ve put this as a positive, since I think it is a nice depiction of the black dog of depression in a teen. (FTAOD, my three kids were all pretty stable and reasonable as teens, thank God!) You can just empathise with the frustration of the parents (and step-parent) in just wanting to alternatively shout at him, shake some sense into him and hug him to ‘make it all better’.
- I enjoyed the twist ending of the film. No spoilers here.
- Hans Zimmer is always more famous for his driving electronic scores for action films like “Tenet“, “Inception” etc. So it was quite a surprise to find he’d been chosen to score this one. And I really liked the music a lot (and stayed through the end titles to listen to it, which is always a good sign).
Negatives:
- The role of Nicholas is EXTREMELY challenging to perform. And although he did a great job, I think Zen McGrath was just a few percent off nailing it.
- At one point in the film there is a twist that I think the film-maker thinks is a shock but is highly predictable!
Summary Thoughts on “The Son”:
I’ve seen varied reviews of this movie, but I was really engaged in it and thought it was great. I was genuinely surprised that this was a “last year film” and just completely overlooked by the BAFTAs and Oscars.
My #cineworldunlimited preview showing was very poorly attended. But I’d recommend you go and see this one.
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Trailer for “The Son”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJWRY4DzoAQ .
