The Son Review : Lacks Depth!
The Father, a drama directed by Florian Zeller that featured Anthony Hopkins as the title character with Alzheimer's, created waves last year. The film, which depicted the ravages of Alzheimer's from the perspective of the patient and his family, was powerful. Zeller successfully adapted his stage drama with finesse, treating the subject matter with great care and sensitivity. Sadly, The Son, director Zeller's follow-up to The Father, which screenwriter christopher Hampton adapted from the director's play, does not approach its subject matter with the same delicacy or care.
Peter (Hugh Jackman) is experiencing the best time of his life. With Beth (Vanessa Kirby), he recently had a baby child, and his job is taking him to locations he's always wanted to travel. The two are alarmed when his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) unexpectedly appears to inform them that their son Nicholas (Zen McGrath) has been missing school for the past month. The depressed Nicholas moves in with Peter and Beth. For a while, Peter thought Nicholas' situation might be improving, but things are actually worse than they appear.
The video does a good job of conveying Zeller's intention to bring attention to teen depression and how unprepared some parents may be to tackle such a weighty issue, but she mishandles the material. When addressing suicide ideation and despair, depth and empathy are two things that are lacking in this article. The Son's shoddy execution is evident in how little attention it pays to Nicholas as a person. There is a lot of unrealized potential in this film, and despite Jackman's very moving performance, Zeller's heavy-handed approach to the subject matter and the characters leaves much to be desired.