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The Son (2022 film)

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The Son
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFlorian Zeller
Screenplay by
Based onLe Fils
by Florian Zeller
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBen Smithard
Edited byYorgos Lamprinos
Music byHans Zimmer
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 7 September 2022 (2022-09-07) (Venice)
  • 20 January 2023 (2023-01-20) (United States)
  • 17 February 2023 (2023-02-17) (United Kingdom)
  • 8 March 2023 (2023-03-08) (France)
Running time
123 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.1 million[1]

The Son is a 2022 drama film directed by Florian Zeller from a screenplay written by himself and Christopher Hampton. It is based on Zeller's 2018 stage play of the same name, which is framed as a prequel to The Father, with Hopkins reprising his role as Anthony and Zeller returning as writer and director. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Hugh Quarshie, and Anthony Hopkins.

The Son had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 2022, and was released for a limited one-week theatrical run in New York City and Los Angeles on November 25, 2022, before a wide release in the United States on January 20, 2023, by Sony Pictures Classics. The film received negative reviews from critics, though Jackman's performance received praise. At the 80th Golden Globe Awards, Jackman was nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Plot

Peter Miller (Hugh Jackman) is recently married to his second wife, Beth (Vanessa Kirby), and raising their newborn son. Peter's ex-wife, Kate (Laura Dern), shows up and says their 17-year-old son Nicholas (Zen McGrath) is depressed and has dropped out of school. Although Peter barely knows Nicholas, he agrees to house him. Peter has a terrible relationship with his own father (Anthony Hopkins), who was cruel when he wasn't absent from Peter's life. Peter has moved on from his childhood trauma, and hopes to be a good father to Nicholas.

Peter remains aloof of the trauma his cheating on Kate with Beth has caused his son. Soon after finding out Nicholas has skipped school since his first day living with Peter and Beth, Nicholas attempts suicide and is placed in an in-patient treatment facility, which leaves Peter feeling guilty.

Peter and Kate bring Nicholas home a week later after feeling sympathetic to his pleas that he regrets the decisions that led to the facility. Once back home, Nicholas makes tea for his parents and happily talks about seeing a movie as a family. As he leaves to shower and his parents discuss how things seem better, Nicholas shoots himself. Peter fantasizes about what life would be like had Nicholas lived.

Cast

Production

During an interview via Zoom after the 93rd Academy Awards nominations were announced, director Florian Zeller revealed to Deadline that he was finishing up an adaptation of one of his plays titled The Son.[2] In April 2021, Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern were cast to star in the film.[3] In June 2021, Vanessa Kirby joined the cast of the film.[4]

Principal photography began in August 2021.[5] As of October 2021, production had concluded. It was reported Anthony Hopkins and Zen McGrath had also joined the cast, the former of whom is reuniting with Zeller after working on The Father (2020), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.[6]

Release

In July 2021, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights to the film.[7] STX Entertainment claimed the distribution rights for the UK, Benelux, Italy, Scandinavia and Iceland that same month.[6] However, following the announcement that STX Entertainment's British offices were shutting down, the distribution changed to Lionsgate UK.

The film had its world premiere in-competition at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 2022.[8] Its North American premiere took place at the Toronto International Film Festival that same month on September 12, 2022.[9] It also screened at the 2022 AFI Fest on November 5, 2022.[10] The film was initially scheduled for a limited release in the United States on 11 November 2022, with expansions in the following weeks,[11] before its limited release was shifted to November 25.[12][13] Its US limited release was later shifted again to a one-week engagement from 25 November, only in limited New York City and Los Angeles theaters, before a nationwide release on 20 January 2023.[14]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 28% based on 165 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The website's consensus reads, "Despite reliably solid work from Laura Dern and Hugh Jackman, The Son remains mired in off-puttingly aggressive melodrama."[15] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient Result Ref.
AACTA International Awards February 24, 2023 Best Lead Actor Hugh Jackman Nominated [17]
Golden Globe Awards January 10, 2023 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Nominated [18]
Satellite Awards March 3, 2023 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Pending [19]
Venice International Film Festival September 10, 2022 Golden Lion Florian Zeller Nominated [20]

References

  1. ^ "The Son (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  2. ^ Blyth, Antonia (March 15, 2021). "Oscar-Nominated 'The Father' Director Florian Zeller Has Next Adaptation 'The Son' In The Works". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  3. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (April 14, 2021). "Hugh Jackman & Laura Dern To Star In Florian Zeller's 'The Son', See-Saw To Produce Follow-Up To Oscar-Nominee 'The Father'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  4. ^ Keslassy, Elsa; Donnelly, Matt (June 28, 2021). "Vanessa Kirby Joins Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern in Florian Zeller's 'The Son' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  5. ^ Zeller, Florian (August 16, 2021). "Today was the first shooting day of #theson with the wonderful @vanessa__kirby and @thehughjackman @sonyclassics @orangestudiofr @see_saw_films". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Grater, Tom (October 11, 2021). "Florian Zeller's 'The Son' Sells Out Globally; Anthony Hopkins & Zen McGrath Join Cast". Deadline. Retrieved October 11, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 7, 2021). "Sony Pictures Classics Teams Again With Oscar Winner Florian Zeller For 'The Son'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  8. ^ "Biennale Cinema 2022 | The Son". La Biennale di Venezia. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  9. ^ "The Son".
  10. ^ "AFI Fest Adds 'Bardo', 'The Son', 'She Said', 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio', More to Red Carpet Lineup". September 20, 2022.
  11. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (August 10, 2022). "Sony Classics Sets Release Dates For Hugh Jackman-Laura Dern Drama 'The Son' & Four Others". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  12. ^ "The Son". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  13. ^ Sony Pictures Classics [@sonyclassics] (October 17, 2022). "From the Academy Award®-winning writer/director of THE FATHER, #TheSon opens November 25 in NY & LA. Coming soon to a theater near you" (Tweet). Retrieved October 17, 2022 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Kay, Jeremy (November 17, 2022). "SPC turns 'The Son' November release into one-week qualifying run". ScreenDaily. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  15. ^ "The Son (2022)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  16. ^ "The Son (2022) Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  17. ^ Pedersen, Erik (February 23, 2023). "Australia's International Awards: 'Avatar: The Way of Water', Cate Blanchett & Austin Butler Take Top Prizes – Full List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  18. ^ "Son, The". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  19. ^ "2022 Nominees". International Press Academy. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  20. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (September 10, 2022). "Venice Film Festival Winners: Golden Lion Goes to 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed'; Luca Guadagnino Best Director, Martin McDonagh Best Screenplay; Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell Take Acting Prizes". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
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