The Son
Director/playwright Florian Zeller follows up The Father with more complications on the domestic front.
Hugh Jackman and Vanessa Kirby
This is not a perfect film but it is much, much better than you might suppose given the number of early reviews which have been notably negative. That reaction, unfair though I feel it to be, is doubtless explained at least in part by the fact that The Son invites comparison with that memorable film The Father which made such an impact when it was released in 2021. None of the characters from that work reappears here, but both were originally stage works by Florian Zeller, both deal with dramas rooted in family life and both find the playwright directing a film version having worked with screenwriter Christopher Hampton on the adaptation. When The Father appeared on our screens it had two advantages: the surprise discovery that Zeller although working in film for the first time was such an adroit movie director and the realisation that the mindset of the leading character in The Father allowed the drama to unfold in a way that came across as highly cinematic. That may have led some critics to expect too much of The Son which is in any case presented far more straightforwardly as an opening out of the original which then unfolds in various locations. That process is in fact successful in taking away any sense of this being a photographed stage play and the writing and acting are such as to make The Son a work to appeal to the same intelligent audience who admired The Father.
This time around Zeller is presenting us with a family tale in which the son, 17-year-old Nicholas (Zen McGrath), is mentally troubled. The root of this would appear to lie in the family history: the boy’s father, Peter (Hugh Jackman) has betrayed his first wife, Kate (Laura Dern), by leaving her for a younger woman, Beth (Vanessa Kirby) and that has led to divorce and to Peter’s remarriage. When the film opens Nicholas is living with his mother but he's behaving erratically and, to avoid further discord with Kate, he opts to move in with his father. Since Peter and Beth now have a young baby, this is not exactly welcome to Beth, but she is aware that Peter wants to do the right thing by his son and therefore accepts the situation. This involves finding a new school for Nicholas whose disturbed behaviour had included significant instances of truant from his previous school.
With the plot developing in this way, it feels natural to regard Nicholas is being the character referred to in the title, albeit that in time another reading is possible. Either way, this is a story in which all of the main characters are presented with understanding. Kate, although clearly ill done by, seeks to remain on good terms with Peter and Beth which is to her credit and she is deeply concerned on finding that Nicholas is become increasingly withdrawn and difficult. Beth on recognising that the boy’s behaviour is getting odder is quite naturally reluctant to trust him to the full (an attitude which comes to a head when a babysitter falls ill and Nicholas asks to be left in sole charge of the baby). As for Nicholas himself, it is apparent that his state has been triggered by the impact of his parents divorcing and by his awareness of just how deeply his mother has been hurt by this. How far this traumatic reaction might go and where it might lead him is the obvious question here, but Zeller is astute in making us understand the line taken by his parents. Peter is a successful New York lawyer and quickly find a therapist for his son. He is also ready to confront him when he discovers that Nicholas has been cutting himself. But this is the 21st century and today more than ever parents are aware that seeking to discipline children can all too easily make matters worse.
When it comes to Peter himself, he is influenced by having had a bad relationship with his own father (Anthony Hopkins in a very telling cameo). This is sufficiently significant to make one realise that the film’s titular character could be Peter. He has grown up determined to be the opposite of his father but, as a man whose career dominates his life, he is not naturally a good family man and often seems to be going through the motions and acting out the role of a sympathetic father. Furthermore, when the situation with Nicholas gets worse, he finds himself taking the same dominating stand that he as a youngster had hated in his own father.
All of the characterisations in The Son are well realised in the writing and played with distinction by the cast. Hugh Jackman, also an executive producer, embraces the complex role of Peter, Laura Dern is well cast as Kate and the young Australian actor Zen McGrath catches both the sense of absence in Nicholas when he is at his most withdrawn and the emotional desperation that erupts from time to time. Vanessa Kirby's role is slightly more subsidiary but she handles it well and the film is adept at retaining its hold on the viewer despite a running length of just over two hours.
Having duly noted these qualities, I now need to record that unfortunately The Son is marred in two ways. The first of these is relatively insignificant. It concerns those moments when a film which avoids the unreality of melodrama nevertheless contains elements that seem stylised (a touch of symbolism here, a touch of slow motion there, the way in which a flashback or two are introduced). However, the real problem lies in the film’s last quarter of an hour. Following an excellent scene in which the parents are asked to make a crucial decision about Nicholas, there is a plot development which is not quite as convincing as what precedes it. But what really weakens the film is what follows next since, as written, The Son sets out to surprise us in a way that leaves the audience feeling that they have been tricked. Doing this undermines the film and that’s a real shame since up to that point it would have earned from me a four star rating at the very least. Even as it is, I would suggest that there is enough intelligence and quality in The Son to make it well worth a look.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Quarshie, William Hope, Akie Kotabe, Joseph Mydell, Gretchen Egolf, George Potto, Erick Hayden, Shin-Fei Chen, Danielle Lewis, George Cobell.
Dir Florian Zeller, Pro Joanna Laurie, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Florian Zeller and Christophe Spadone, Screenplay Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton, from the play by Florian Zeller, Ph Ben Smithard, Pro Des Simon Bowles, Ed Yorgos Lamprinos, Music Hans Zimmer, Costumes Lisa Duncan.
See-Saw Films/Ingenious Media/Embankment Films/Film4/Cross City Films/Big Indie Pictures-STX Entertainment.
122 mins. UK/France. 2022. US Rel: 25 November 2022. UK Rel: 17 February 2023. Cert. 15.
