Following on from their last collaboration The Father, a film so good that it nearly topped my Best Of 2021 list, writer/director Florian Zeller and co-writer Christopher Hampton have now continued their dramatising of the effects of mental illness with a new film, also based on one of Zeller’s stageplays. This one, however, hasn’t been getting the same glowing rapport; in fact, opinions on this film have been middling at best. Now, as I’ll get into, I can definitely see where the negativity is coming from and even agree with some of it… but man, when this film hits its stride, it reminds me of just how hard The Father hit on first watching it.
Where The Father went for an interior depiction of the character dealing with the central mental illness, with the visuals and overall presentation working as an extension of Anthony’s own perception of the world and the people around him, The Son is emphatically exterior. It’s mainly focused on the parents (Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern, with Vanessa Kirby as step-mother) of a teenager (Zen McGrath) who is dealing with severe depression. Now, applying the same general psychological direction to this story that he applied to The Father could’ve been absolutely devastating if done well, what’s done here is… well, it’s shot like any other feature film based on a theatrical work. Standard shots, standard sombre soundtrack, and while editor Yorgos Lamprinos applies similar depressive cutaways like he did in The Father, it’s all arranged in a fairly standard way.
The writing also takes a bit of a hit, as the characterisation for the parents in particular is… I honestly hate using this word to describe movies, since all works of fiction are this by definition, but it feels very manipulative. The story is about the tragedy of knowing that something is wrong with your own child, but not knowing what it is or how to help them get through, but the way that Jackman’s Peter deals with the whole affair is a bit suspect. He ends up treating his son as if he is the only source of information on what is going on with, like those dealing with depression aren’t detached from their own feelings as a result of that depression (part of the reason why I didn’t mind McGrath’s performance in this: It fits the bill for internal emotional detachment) and Google wouldn’t be the first thing literally anyone would jump to in a hope to find answers. I get that this reflects a certain reality, or at least a grounded emotional response to reality, but it’s conveyed in a hackneyed way.
And yet, there’s still aspects of the story and its highly
melodramatic framing that rang true for me, as someone who has dealt with
depression first-hand. That sensation of blindly grasping for some kind
of solution, or just a path towards one, when something bad is happening to
someone else is painfully familiar to me, and it’s even something that took me
a bit of time to recognise within myself. Years ago, when I looked at the
Xander Dolan film Mommy, I gave it a pretty hard time on the basis of how it
framed the notion of medical care for mental illness. Then I went through
a similar experience, from the other side, and I realised how bad that felt.
How easy it is to blame yourself for someone else’s mental anguish, because
surely, you must’ve noticed something before this, right? Something that
would point to the pain they’re going through, that could tell you that they
needed help, and that you’d be able to provide it.
This is especially sharp when it comes to being the parent of the person going through this shit. Parents are supposed to be able to teach their kids how to deal with the world, and to lead them to the help they need if they are unable to give it themselves. And with Peter, we see that he’s part of a cycle of parental misguidance, still dealing with the treatment he got from his own father (Anthony Hopkins playing a man named Anthony, but not the same one from The Father because this couldn’t possibly lead anyone to think this is directly connected to that film in any way), and inadvertently passing that on because it’s all that he knows. Parents who actually give a shit about raising their kids often run into fears of failing to do so, that their direct involvement in a child’s development could end up damaging them, which is palpable even as someone who isn’t a parent. To say nothing of how the film ends, which… man, as much as I could tell where this film was going, knowing that it’s by the same people behind The Father, it still absolutely steamrolled me. Even in spite of that bloody book title feeling like a step too far. Like… wow, you really couldn’t leave anything unsaid, could you?
This is a very messy film, and something of a disappointment compared to the finesse of The Father. It lacks the total emotional resonance or artistic craftsmanship, and what is utilised to replace them is quite inconsistent, to the point of actively getting in the way of what could’ve been a crushing portrayal of depression. When it falters, it’s in obvious ways that make it difficult to believe that these are the same people who so perfectly depicted dementia last time. But it’s a testament to their skills that, even with that hefty setback, there are still pockets that deliver a comparable emotional wallop, and line up with my own experiences in a way that made me take note. It’s compromised, sure, but I’m still glad I watched it.
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