‘Son’
Manager Florian Zeller
interpreters Hugh Jackman, Zen McGrath, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby
Punctuation ★
Florian Zeller, known for his keen ear for dialogue and his ability to stage intimate emotional storms, delivers a film that tests how audiences respond to a family in crisis. The Son follows a father who is well meaning, practical, and often overwhelmed as he grapples with the heavy burden of a son facing severe mental health struggles. The narrative stays close to the consequences of depression within a single household, showing how pain can ripple through every relationship, from the quiet corners of a kitchen to the crowded chaos of a living room where shouting and silence struggle for dominance. The portrayal centers on the tension between responsibility and helplessness, asking what a parent owes a child who cannot find a path out of the darkness and what a child owes a parent who remains hopeful even when hope feels misplaced.
The film presents a world that feels rigorously observed yet emotionally jaundiced, where characters often misread signals and misjudge motives. The depiction of depression here is not a public health brochure but a raw, messy phenomenon that refuses to fit into neat explanations. The performances anchor the piece, with a lead portrayal that refuses easy sympathy and instead demands sustained attention to the patient and the observer alike. The supporting cast moves through the story with a mix of anxious credibility and frayed nerves, each person wrestling with the complicated ethics of care. While the dialogue aims to sound true to life, some moments carry a rhythm that can drift into melodrama, punctuating the emotional load with heightened breaths and sudden outbursts. The result is a film that invites viewers to witness the cost of mental illness on a family, even as it leaves room for the possibility that understanding can emerge from conversation, not coercion. The setting becomes almost a character in its own right: a space where every room holds memory, and every doorway invites a decision about how to respond when the mind is caught in a storm that refuses to pass. The emotional landscape is dense, and the film invites repeated viewing to parse the subtler shifts in tone, intention, and meaning behind each choice the characters make.