The Son - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

IT MAY not be subtle, or match the conceptual brilliance of The Father, but Florian Zeller’s The Son is a challenging drama that confronts some difficult issues in supremely intelligent fashion.

Hugh Jackman heads the cast as as Peter, a successful New York lawyer, on the cusp of a successful entry into politics (via a lucrative consultancy), who has remarried (to Vanessa Kirby) and recently had a new baby son.

His idyllic existence is rocked, however, by a visit from his ex-wife (Laura Dern), who informs him that his 17-year-old son by their relationship, Nicholas (Zen McGrath) is deeply depressed, playing truant from school and begging to stay with him for a while.

Peter duly takes him in and attempts to turn things around but is unable to understand or comprehend the depths of Nicholas’ suffering.

But the ensuing struggle stirs up emotions within Peter that force him to confront his own relationship with his father (Anthony Hopkins), as well as his own shortcomings as a dad, all the while juggling his career, new responsibilities and effort to understand what is behind Nicholas’ sadness.

Could the depression stem from Peter’s decision to leave the family and start a new life? Or is there something deeper underpinning it?

For families who actually deal with children suffering from poor mental health, the issues raised by Zeller’s film (and Christopher Hampton’s screenplay) will be uncomfortably familiar - although Zeller is careful not to put a label on it (Nicholas’ depression is so pronounced that it could stem from something like autism or ADHD).

Rather than offering a diagnostic answer, his film examines the complexity of living with a condition from those people perhaps not equipped to deal with it.

Certainly, Jackman does a great job of showing how helpless Peter is. Conventional thinking doesn’t work. The fixes (such as just getting on with it, or switching schools) merely exacerbate the torment. Traditional thinking proves outdated.

If anything, The Son seems to be holding society to account. A key scene in which Jackman goes to visit Hopkins and invokes his father’s wrath is particularly intriguing.

It opens with Hopkins businessman lamenting the perceived weakness of Western leaders (a swipe at woke attitudes) before rebutting his own son for daring to insinuate that he was a poor father for not visiting his wife (Peter’s mother) when she was dying in hospital. He embraces the role of monster, while belittling Peter for not being able to get over it, to move forward.

The exchange rocks Peter, to the extent that he resolves to put his struggling son first.

But even then, his instincts betray him. The road ahead is far more cruel than Peter ever dared imagine.

If there are criticisms of The Son (which many critics leapt upon) it’s that its outcome is a little too telegraphed and contrived. The tragedy is inevitable, yet strangely unconvincing in the way that it arrives. It strips the movie of some of its power.

And Nicholas, himself, isn’t given enough to do to really get under the skin of his character. The movie operates first and foremost from Peter’s perspective.

But as an examination of parental struggle and of societal failings in dealing with mental health (and the stigma attached to depression and feelings), it’s a probing, articulate and conversation starting experience.

It’s also powered by great performances, with Jackman in particularly outstanding form: his descent into despair is layered and convincing, which lends his final scene a genuine potency.

The Son isn’t an easy watch. But it’s a highly relevant one. And the questions it asks are ones that need asking.

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 2hrs 3mins