The Father

"The mainspring of is the presence of Hopkins-an actor at the frightening summit of his powers, portraying a man brought pitifully low."

"Masterful and agonizing."

"Gives Anthony Hopkins a role designed to nearly break your heart: a role full of anger and displacement and uncertainty but, also, flashes of humor, a sprightly fullness of life"

"A psychological mystery, a truly heart-wrenching drama and a wild emotional ride all at once."

"A polished piece of work but an unsparing one, offering no false assurances."

"An accomplished debut, but it doesn't always live up to the promise of its style and surface complexity."

"Should scare the stuffing out of anybody who has contemplated their own failing memory."

"The Father incorporates what could have just been a storytelling gimmick and infuses it with such sorrow, grace and even the occasional dark joke that it becomes a profound exploration of how we say goodbye to someone dear to us — even though they have not yet really gone."

"It’s a difficult, often quite brutal, viewing experience, as it needs to be given the subject matter, not only because of the fractured storytelling but because of the devastating lead performance from Hopkins."

"The Father exists for no discernible reason other than to render an inexplicably cruel element of the human condition in a recognizable way, and to do so in a way that only good art can."

"The Father is a chamber piece, but it has the artistic verve to keep twisting the reality it shows us without becoming a stunt."

"The Father is an act of understanding, radical in its toughness and its generous artistry."

"The best film about the wages of aging since Amour eight years ago, The Father takes a bracingly insightful, subtle and nuanced look at encroaching dementia and the toll it takes on those in close proximity to the afflicted."