The Son (2022)

"I’m unsure about that showy final scene. But this is such a powerful and literate film."

"A flawed film with a kind heart..."

"The Son isn’t an easy watch, but it’s an important one at a time when young people are very much in crisis."

"Hugh Jackman is outstanding in Florian Zeller’s otherwise unrewarding dirge..."

"It’s compassionate, acutely observed but also rather conventional."

"The results feel less like a film than an upmarket soap opera..."

"Hugh Jackman is devastating in this wrenching portrait of depression."

"All by himself, Hugh Jackman imbues The Son with a tragic power that makes even Florian Zeller’s most manipulative excesses easier to tolerate."

"A melodrama that thinks it’s saying something important but it’s just yelling in your face..."

"The Son is so bad you may actually question whether you actually liked The Father."

"The fable of Nicholas and Peter has the brittle feel of a setup."

"It doesn't take long to sense that Zeller is making something darkly cynical and a bit sadistic."

"Wrenching and riveting..."

"The movie may take place inside a pit of despair, but the theatrics leave us with the uncanny sensation of feeling nothing at all."

"The apple falls lamentably far from the tree where Florian Zeller’s The Son is concerned."

"The latest addition to a recent crop of movies to present grief and trauma in ways that imply that Hollywood is the first to ever discover both."

"Rife with cliches and wasted opportunities."

"(The Son) feels false throughout."

"(The film) telegraphs everything."