If someone in my family whom I love and care for takes their own life, would it be my fault? Was I not present enough to protect them? What could I have done differently? These are all questions Florian Zeller managed to portray through Hugh Jackman's character as the father of a 17-year-old son who committed suicide in the drama The Son, released in 2022. Director and screenplay writer Florian Zeller (along with Christopher Hampton) created a touching film exploring the motifs of family, growth, and grief using unique stylistic choices throughout.
The Story
The film follows the story of a young boy named Nicholas struggling with depression. As both of his parents are divorced and his father has moved on with his life—having a new wife and a newborn baby—Nicholas appears to feel trapped. His father is the only person he could talk to but also a man he hated for leaving his mother. Over the course of the movie, we see the relationship between Nicholas' parents, their relationships with their child, and the son's stepmother. With a wide range of emotions and the father's own complicated relationship with his father, the audience faces the generational conflicts within family dynamics.
The Role of Fathers
Fathers are known to play a significant role in children's lives, traditionally as the man of the house who provides shelter and food. It can almost be detrimental to lack a father's love or attention. In this scenario, the main conflict between the father and the son is misinterpretation. As the son reveals the difficult emotions he is undergoing, the father struggles to decide how to act. The 17-year-old boy experiences different symptoms of depression, such as not feeling happy, not having a goal, or feeling like there isn't a reason to be on this earth—unable to find purpose and meaning in life.
Adolescent Struggles
It can be said that everyone, no matter their age, has been through a low point in their lives, and if they haven't already, it will come. Most people call it a mid-life crisis; however, it can just as easily occur during adolescence. So much in a young adult's body is undergoing change, and it is a point in a teenager's life where their surroundings significantly affect how they start thinking and acting. For Nicholas, his parents' divorce and living with a mother abandoned by her husband, filled with insecurity, left the poor boy with mixed feelings. He doesn't know how to communicate and lacks the will to change things.
It takes more than one conversation to help a depressed teenager. It can take months or even years. Although therapists can help a great deal, it is easy to lie and hide the truth. How can one expect a teenager to openly discuss all their thoughts and emotions with a stranger when they struggle to be honest with members of their family, especially someone they are close to? A solid argument against this would be that Nicholas has always been intimidated by his father and didn't want to disappoint him. Eventually, he ended up feeling that he didn't want responsibilities anymore, opting to "end the pain" he had been carrying.
A Father's Grief
Nicholas, while given the chance to fight, ended up opting for the quicker solution. It could be argued that suicide is a selfish act, and adolescents are most likely thinking about themselves, not caring how their actions might affect others. From his perspective, he did what he thought was the only way to be set free. On the other hand, this act has forever changed the mind of a helpless father who wanted to be better than his own father.
Hugh Jackman is a great actor who portrayed the role of a confused father trying to act rationally and help. Though it was clear that he was inexperienced, he still tried everything he could to protect his son. As he reminisces about the past, he tries to look back at the good moments and fit all the puzzle pieces together—trying to see when everything changed inside his little boy's head. It can be very difficult to grieve a son. But it is much more than just grief when a child decides to take matters into their own hands and determine their own fate. The fact that there was intention behind it puzzles the father's mind even more because intentions come with reasons, and reasons come with actions.
The father, with all his frustration and sadness, is forced to live with the fact that he tried but failed to protect his son. Was it his fault? Of course not. No parent should feel the need to take others' actions upon themselves. Could he have done more? Perhaps. But what matters is that he tried. With his newborn, his parenting will undoubtedly change. No one should have regrets from the past. Whatever happened is left there, and we carry on with our lives, taking the lessons with us. Don't believe in mistakes; believe in chances and opportunities.
The Stepmother's Journey
Another character who should not be left aside is the stepmother. It is difficult to imagine the blocking feeling she must have experienced, mainly caring for her own child. At the beginning of the film, she had a difficult relationship with her stepson. But as time went on and they started living together under one roof with the biological mother, they grew closer. The audience sees a happy, refreshed family. But it is more difficult to be the wife of a man who just lost his son, managing his emotions. Towards the end of the film, as the father imagines a future where his son is still alive, it shows that grief is not a process that can be overcome in five stages. When you grieve someone you love, it sticks with you forever. Even if life has moved on and his new child has grown, his mind is still there. On the boat, accompanied by his son as a young child—the happy place he likes to return to when he misses his son.
Grief is a never-ending presence living within a person's mind and soul.
Cinematic Elements
Furthermore, there were cinematic elements worth mentioning, like the lack of music in this film. Almost every scene felt like a real dialogue, with no background music—only in certain intentional scenes, for example, the boat scene I described earlier, or when Nicholas, his father, and stepmother all danced crazily based on a lie Nicholas had told. Still, it showed a family having fun, but all founded on something untrue. Nicholas had lied about going to a party. This is where the love Nicholas shared is displayed in a very unique manner. He didn't necessarily say it outright, not like the time he expressed it right before committing suicide. But in a way, it showed he did care about his father, making him believe he was changing for the better and seeing his father excited and thrilled to engage with him.
Storytelling and Character Development
The storytelling is rather good. Each scene, as the film progresses, unveils an aspect of their relationship or a reason for each character's actions. This is the case of "show, don't tell," where the story unravels over time and isn't handed to the audience immediately. One interesting side story was the father's own relationship with his father. A complicated, toxic relationship, where Hugh Jackman's character is visibly enraged by his father's carelessness and selfishness. Even though that might translate to his father's focus on work. In most films and series where a character with "daddy issues" is portrayed, they usually fear becoming their father. At some point, they realize they are slowly becoming him and usually change their ways. Just like the father in this film, as he decides to care more about his child's well-being, allowing himself to take a break from work.
Truthfully, the camerawork was quite standard. Nothing too impressive occurred. Of course, it is essential to have symmetrical framing and perhaps intentional separations between characters using objects or technical camera placement. The lighting and sound were pure and honest, which was likely Zeller's intention—to portray these dialogues as honestly as possible, making a true drama. The color use in this film prominently featured blue, which could represent sadness or loneliness. This aligns with the son's depressive state, the father's entrapment in his own mind, and the stepmother's feelings of isolation as she tries to help while setting her priorities straight.
The writing and character development are very strong in this film. As mentioned before, the story unfolds gradually, which captivates the audience. The character development is fitting. The father is presented with new responsibility, going through various stages of confusion, selflessness, generosity, disappointment, fear, and peace. The son visibly experiences lost emotions, emptiness, accountability, fleeting hope, and eventual withdrawal. This was well represented and shown, primarily due to the acting. Even in moments without dialogue, simple grunts, eye contact, and physical expressions conveyed a lot. Hugh Jackman, Zen McGrath, and Vanessa Kirby delivered exceptional performances, displaying the exact emotions their characters were meant to feel.
At times, Zen McGrath, playing Nicholas, could have kept his acting a bit more natural, as it occasionally felt overacted. However, he still did a very good job and was convincing. Hugh Jackman, of course, delivered a gripping performance as the father. Even though his character's rash anger at times enraged me, I like to believe it was a directorial choice. Vanessa Kirby, who played the stepmother, was exceptional. While her role was not prominent throughout the film, she truly depicted the right amount of concern, enjoyment, and love her character provided.
Personal Reflection
The overall flow of the film was quite slow-paced, and the scenes felt repetitive as much of it was shot in the living room. It could have been more fast-paced but remained immersive for the most part. I believe the beginning could have been quicker.
This film reminded me of my time during the coronavirus lockdowns. While watching this film, I reflected on how I felt during that time. I could connect with the ways Nicholas felt. However, I realized the main difference between Nicholas and me was faith. I had thoughts of harming myself but never acted on them because I cared. I believed in God and in treating myself right. Covid was my rough patch—a time of depression and desperation where I cried, followed routines, and felt stagnant. I had a therapist for a short time, but I made it through and now fear letting myself go again. The process of becoming healthier and finding purpose wouldn't have been possible without faith in God and myself. Of course, I cannot fully compare myself to Nicholas, as much of my resilience stems from how I was raised. Nicholas didn't have the chance to be raised as healthily as I was, which complicates things.
The point of sharing this part of my story is to show that Nicholas is a character people can connect with, to varying degrees. He is a welcoming character for those who might have experienced something similar, such as coming from a broken home, feeling estranged from oneself, or, at worst, harming their own body.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this film presents many themes worth discussing. It is a good film, worth watching, but not one I would recommend to everyone. It isn't a must-watch but could be a good choice if you have nothing else on your list. I feel this way because it is quite long and slightly predictable. While it carries a lot of substance, it could have been shorter to make a larger impact.
This short analysis of the film is based on my recollections, and the main subjects that stuck out to me. In other words, while this was my take on what I viewed, it might be a different experience for you which is what I am interested in. For those who have seen this film, what areas did you connect with the most?