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There is no disputing the value of family. The relationships between parents, kids, and siblings, or the absence of such interactions, can have a significant impact on our lives, whether they are loving or difficult. For centuries, the concept of family and its dynamics have been the crux of many great works of art. Despite writers' best efforts to use varying high-concept ideas, the world's biggest storytellers understand that there is nothing more powerful than the relationships between children and their parents, even surpassing romantic love when put against it. The journey that the characters take through the narrative can challenge, change, or reinforce their views about each other, having a bigger impact on the overall plot of the story.
One name that understands the intricacies of the delicate relationship between a child and their parents is the phenomenal Florian Zeller, a talented playwright, novelist, screenwriter, theater, and film director. Zeller boasts an impressive portfolio of novels, plays, and films, but made his big screen debut in 2020 with one of his most well-known plays - The Father; adapted for the screen by Zeller himself and Christopher Hampton. The Father is part of a trilogy about how mental health conditions wreak havoc on well-functioning bourgeois families. Together with The Father and The Mother, another drama by Zeller, The Son makes up a trio and is the latest Zeller adaptation coming to screen. While The Father was at its high, receiving global praise, Zeller had already started working on the screenplay of The Son. Additionally, Zeller mentioned that The Son holds a special place in his heart because he hasn't wanted to pen anything fresh since because much like The Father, this was a story that he wanted to bring out to the world in the form of a movie.
The Son, much like its predecessor is honest, universal, and gut-wrenching in its portrayal of human emotions and is a hauntingly painful drama because of its similarity to real-life situations that intensifies gradually without any analgesics.
What is The Son’s Plot?
The Son is a story of a family that is trying to maneuver life after the split between Peter (Hugh Jackman) and Kate (Laura Dern) and their troubled teenage son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath). Peter, a successful New York lawyer, is remarried with a newborn son, and about to start a political consultancy that could lead to a prestigious position in the White House. However, his ex-wife contacts him to explain that their 17-year-old child together is gravely depressed, skipping class, and pleading with him to let him live with him for short time. As a father, Peter concludes he can't honorably reject him; and his new wife - Beth (Vanessa Kirby), decides she can't deny her husband. Peter juggles work, and his and Beth's schedules while attempting to care for Nicholas the way he would have loved his father (Anthony Hopkins) to have cared for him, and in his attempt, he loses focus on how to keep hold of Nicholas in the present by looking to the past to make up for its errors. Hugh Jackman brilliantly adopts the persona of Peter, a man consumed by his style of performing. The workaholic professional who rarely comes home badly wants to be seen as the perfect father, yet he seems to know or think in his heart that he is failing much as his father did.
The Son is a movie where everyone tries their hardest to do the right thing, it's a cry for assistance because nobody appears to know what it is that Nicholas wants or is capable of. The tension in The Son stems from this ambiguity: a feeling of the deep, nagging fear that something horrible is about to occur as if a catastrophe were unavoidable, but you aren’t quite sure what form it would take. The overarching antagonist in The Son is life itself and its relentless attacks, of trying and failing to understand your children, their feelings and thought processes, and what you ought to be thinking or feeling in response as a parent with the fear of failing constantly looming over your heads.
Is There a Trailer For The Son?
Yes, the movie trailer was released first by the star himself on his Twitter before it was officially revealed on The Sony Picture Classics YouTube on August 30th and was successful in creating anticipation for the film’s release.
Hugh Jackman's brilliant acting skills are on display right from the first dialogue delivery as he questions his ex-wife Kate for showing up unannounced on his doorstep, but also not missing the troubled expression on her face as he questions about any issues or worries. We are also introduced to the Academy Award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins in the role of Peter's father who is seen at odds with Peter for an unspecified cause. Although there is a little confrontation between the maestros in the trailer, it is enough to tease the friction between the duo, if we are to go by the nonchalant tone delivery of Hopkins and the exasperated facial expressions of Jackman. The presence of Nicholas in Peter and Beth’s life, his current partner, is bound to have its consequences and that soon plays out in the trailer as the audience sees the rising tension between the two, invariably affecting every single character involved.
The glimpses of the past are presented in a positive light, filled with laughter and happy moments; serving as a striking contrast to the current scenario the characters are suffering. Dern's acting prowess is also on full display as she effectively conveys the regret that her character is experiencing onstage. The trailer concludes with Peter claiming that everything is alright at home while simultaneously yelling out of frustration at being blamed for the suffering that Nicholas is going through, him throwing the often-heard question of “Haven’t I always done everything for you!’’ from his parents who can’t face their shortcomings, in the haste to reinvent their life regardless of the consequences it has on the children.
A second and longer trailer was released on October 25, 2022.
Who Is In The Cast of The Son?
The movie similar to The Father has an outstanding cast lineup. The renowned actor, Hugh Jackman will be playing the role of Peter, as part of the main cast. Joining him as his female leads are Laura Dern as his ex-wife, Kate, and Vanessa Kirby as Peter’s current partner, Beth. Nicholas is played by Zen McGrath, a comparative newcomer, who plays alongside the title character in the film. Anthony Hopkins, who reunites with Zeller after his win in the 2020 Academy Awards for Best Actor for their last film, The Father, completes the main cast of The Son, playing Peter’s father.
When Is The Son's Release Date?
After its premiere at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival on September 7th and September 13th respectively, The Son was initially scheduled to have its limited theatrical release on November 11th, 2022, before expanding wide in the following weeks. The film's limited release was ultimately shifted to November 25th, 2022, where it will play for one week in Los Angeles in New York. The film won't have its official wide release until January 20, 2023.
Where to Watch The Son?
The Son will be making its limited theatrical release on November 25 and will have its wide release two months later on January 20, beyond that not much has been disclosed, The Son may be available for audiences to see on various streaming services. This will likely be confirmed when the film has finished playing in theaters.
Florian Zeller’s Earlier Work: The Father
The deepest anxiety associated with aging is the dread of failing our mental senses. The Father, Florian Zeller's riveting debut movie based on his own 2012 play, tackles the fear of forgetting not just who you are but your loved ones too; fusing incisive domestic narrative with muted psychological torment. The movie vividly depicts a cherished patriarch's descent into dementia, told from the first-person point of view.
Anthony Hopkins portrays Anthony, a wealthy Londoner who is reluctant to tell his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) that he can no longer take care of himself. He starts to question his loved ones, himself, and the foundation of reality as he attempts to make sense of the shifting circumstances. In The Father, Zeller places the audience inside the ailing mind of Anthony, played to perfection by Hopkins; letting us feel his anguish as though it was our own. However, he also provides the viewpoint of the family members and caregivers who work to control his explosive temper and arrange his disorganized recollections. Characters appear and disappear while their names and identities are changed based on Anthony’s understanding of them, and it can never be assumed what is true or false, or who is real or a figment of imagination.
The Father is a profoundly moving, compelling portrayal of a mental health plight that is both mysterious and all too plausible. The movie explores grief and what it means to miss a loved one while they are still living and both Hopkins and Colman deliver outstandingly memorable performances.