Review - The Son
Directed by: Florian Zeller
Written by: Florian Zeller
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby & Zen McGrath
Running Time: 123 minutes
Rating: 2/5
Sometimes I feel like I’m not made for this life.
Florian Zeller took the world by storm back two years ago with his earth-shattering directorial debut, The Father; an cinematic experience that blankets our hearts and soul with rage, fear, confusion and utter sadness. In his sophomore effort, The Son, Zeller continues his exploration of the pain and vulnerability of the human soul, though, unfortunately, to an absolute fault.
Peter Miller (Hugh Jackman) is a successful consultant, living a New York brownstone with his beautiful wife, Beth (Vanessa Kirby) and their newborn, Theo. Kate (Laura Dern,) Peter’s ex-wife reaches out after her and Peter’s teenage son, Nicholas, is found to have been skipping school. It’s just a phase, the family reiterates; scars on Nicholas’ wrist, a knife hidden underneath his pillow; the unprovoked crying outbursts - all signs of a deep, darker, pain. The Son is an affecting drama with an unimaginable prowess that is aching to surround us, but its muddled dialogue, excruciating moments of absolute melodrama keep Zellers’ catharsis at bay behind its frames.
“There isn’t subtlety in the characters motives, everything feels inauthentic in delivery and conversation. ”
Before I am flooded with hate mail, I know Zeller’s a playwright at heart. That’s not the issue. Zeller’s nuances of theatrical dialogue and blocking seem to have been lost in translation in his second film. With all the other “play” like films I have seen at TIFF; this feels the most lifeless - even though it has the most scenes outside of the primary location. The Miller apartment felt empty and alone; even in its most important scenes, I felt lost in the world around me. The camera is dizzying, jarring when paired with the dialogue. The narrative and drama is there - the supporting arcs, the character traits, the elements of the story are all here, but it just feels…clumsy. It could be that maybe the elements feel rehashed or almost obvious in its nature - the divorced parents, the absentee father, the resentment of the stepmother - while these choices are fine - the dialogue and the blocking are too on the nose.
There isn’t subtlety in the characters motives, everything feels inauthentic in delivery and conversation. Prior to this film, I felt the utmost confidence that Jackman was locked for the awards run - but now, I am shambles. He has moments of greatness, his stature tall and powerful amongst those around him - but in some scenes at the height of dramatic tension, the dialogue just makes me feel like Peter Miller isn’t there, it’s just Hugh at a rehearsal for an off-broadway run. Laura Dern and Zen McGrath do not help the film at all, their performances are wooden, bare and static. The sole standout is Vanessa Kirby, almost escaping this film unscathed; Beth feels the most at ease, real and present, amongst the melodrama of her ensemble.
Maybe I’m being a bit too hard on this film because how do you follow up the devastation of The Father? The screenplay was inherently beautiful and its magic box trickery was cinematically stunning. The Son feels too safe, mediocre performances with heavily over dramatic dialogue - it just seems to pass as an adaptation. Maybe my expectations were too high. I’ll give Zeller another shot, I think.
