The Father Review

 

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 96 minutes 

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Rufus Sewell, Imogen Poots

Directed by: Florian Zeller

The story: A man refuses to accept any help from his daughter as he ages, but soon he begins to doubt his own family and sanity as his health declines. 

The verdict: This is a film that has been on my radar for a long time and after seeing its Oscar nominations, I wanted to see it even more. I was really disappointed when I saw that the U.K release date was late June but as the saying goes - ‘good things come to those who wait.’ And The Father was worth the wait. 

The Father was adapted from the stage play Le Père (also written by Zeller) and at first I found that the film did watch like a play - it felt staged. However, this feeling very quickly evaporated and I was completely drawn into the film.

The Father boasts both excellent technical aspects and excellent performances. The editing is superb and plays into the exact feelings that Zeller is trying to evoke. And actually everything from the lighting and the way that the shots are framed are meticulously constructed to emulate the confusion and devastation of dementia.

The cast is superb but Anthony Hopkins steals the show. His character name in this is also Anthony, which potentially could have backfired as audiences are reminded that this is Anthony Hopkins, famous actor. However, because his performance is so powerful, that doesn’t happen at all. Rather, I actually felt extremely protective of his character and I felt that he was really this elderly man living in London. It is no surprise to see his performance so lauded and his Oscar is certainly well deserved.  

Far and above everything else, The Father floored me in how effectively and heartbreakingly it explores dementia from the perspective of someone suffering from it. To fully explain how the film does this, I think, would be a spoiler. However, it is powerful, masterful and incredibly thought provoking. In fact it was done so successfully that I witnessed several audience members express their discomfort and confusion. In that way, it seems only right to commend the writing for weaving such a adept narrative and story.

As you can imagine, The Father is a tough watch throughout. However, for me, it was in the last ten minutes that I completely fell apart and found myself sobbing on the back row. The Father is a hard hitting film packed full of compassion and emotion, and I feel that it will stay with me for a long, long time.

The rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️