“The Son” Movie Review by Rafy Mediavilla (@Rmediavilla) #TIFF22
A cautionary tale that follows a family as it struggles to reunite after falling apart. THE SON centers on Peter (Hugh Jackman), whose hectic life with his infant and new partner Beth (Vanessa Kirby) is upended when his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) appears at his door to discuss their son Nicholas (Zen McGrath), who is now a teenager. The young man has been missing school for months and is deeply troubled. Peter strives to take care of Nicholas as he would have wanted his own father (Anthony Hopkins) to have taken care of him while juggling his and Beth’s new son, and at work an offer of a dream position in Washington. However, by reaching for the past to correct its mistakes, he loses sight of how to hold onto Nicholas in the present.
With that synopsis out of the way, I had many reasons why I had to screen this movie during my coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival 2022. Not only because it was a Florian Zeller movie, who brought us “The Father” which I absolutely loved with a brilliant performance by Anthony Hopkins, but I also knew I was in for another powerful, and impactful story with Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, and Vanessa Kirby leading the charge.
Yet all expectations aside, I wasn’t absolutely ready to witness what I just saw story-wise with “The Son”. It is a story that I have to put fair warning as it made thriller emotions of people that may have gone through similar situations they get shown in the movie. if you read the synopsis, I don’t have to dive into too many details by just telling you that the subject matter of the principal plot of the story dives into difficult subjects that are for many people difficult to discuss.
Now the subjects in hands that the movie touches upon were the first things that caught my eye and got me interested in watching it in the first place. As it dives into parent and child relationships, it dives into mother and father relationships. it dives into divorces it dives into the interpersonal skills of a child with third parties. It dives into the subject of suicide and mental health Which is something I completely understand that not everyone can process the same way. Many may find the way the director when into developing the story in a way that is too harsh, rough, or borderline raw for general viewers alone. But in my book, the way the director presented the story to me felt all too real, And the underlying reason why I recommend as a family to watch this movie together is so we can reflect and analyze and start up a conversation on what we just saw.
The second thing that stood out from this movie where the performances specifically from Hugh Jackman and Vanessa Kirby. Both of these characters within the story are the ones that surround The Son’s main plot line. Hugh Jackman In the role of the father we see him constantly bullying between what he needs to do as a father and what he needs to do as a husband to his new wife. We can clearly see the conflicts of emotions in Hugh Jackman’s performances, and these emotions become more apparent in the final act with the way the whole story comes to an end. The same can be said about Vanessa Kirby, as we can also see the emotions in her performances as she plays this stepmom trying to balance her life and accommodating the needs of her stepson.
It’s impossible not to say that this movie will cause controversy and spark a conversation because of the raw performances and maybe or more importantly how the whole story gets played out. But in my book what Florian Zeller did Was another masterpiece in storytelling, and I commend him for using his platform to speak up on subjects that are difficult to open up on. With all that said, if you feel you can handle these tough situations and subjects, this movie is a must-watch in my book.
