What is it about? At the age of seventeen, Nicholas seems to be spinning, he is no longer the bright child who was always smiling. what is happening to him Overwhelmed by the situation, her mother admits that she is moving in with her father, Peter. A recently remarried father of a new baby struggles to overcome misunderstanding, anger and helplessness in hopes of finding his son.
Adapted from his own play
After his first feature film “Father”, director Florian Zeller adapts one of his plays again. son. Created in 2018, it starred Ivan Attali, Anne Consin, Elodie Navarre and Rod Parado. This is the last part of the trilogy, which is also important Mother and Father. “I don’t plan to adapt all my plays, but after ‘Father’ I knew that if I had the chance, ‘Son’ would be my next film: it’s a story that was very close to my heart.”Zeller explains.
A scene specially invented for Anthony Hopkins
The sequence where Hugh Jackman talks to his father, played by Anthony Hopkins, was not in the original play. Florian Zeller added it to find the actor he directed in The Father, for which he also won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
This is a crucial scene for the director: “It’s really a moment where we understand that this father is a son in pain, and that deep down he was just trying to be a better father than he was. That he’s unable to manage the challenges of the present as a father. I wanted to capture that transgenerational equation.”
An opaque character
Although he gives his name to the film, the son’s character is completely opaque. “I did not want to explain or justify this trouble, on the contrary, I dared to look at it as something inexplicable, incomprehensible and even unpleasant…”Florian Zeller explains.
Unlike Father, who plunges us into the main character’s brain, Son puts us in the shoes of the patient parents, who try in vain to understand what’s going on. “It was a way of exploring the feeling of helplessness, these situations where you no longer know what to do, despite your good intentions…”

Initiated by Hugh Jackman
It was Hugh Jackman who wrote to Florian Zeller. Father was impressed, he read it son When he learned that the adaptation was in progress. In his email, he wanted to meet with Zeller to explain why he should fill the role.
“I was moved by the humility and courage of his approach. But also by his honesty. We met on Zoom and I immediately felt that this story was not for him. Stranger and that he could do something unique: search for deep and authentic emotions within himself. Without deception. Without trying. He’s a great actor, but he’s also an extraordinary person.– says the director.

without net
Florian Zeller did not rehearse with his actors: “I didn’t want us to shoot a scene with preconceived ideas of what was going to happen. We didn’t know, we discovered things in the unknown of the moment, allowing us to be surprised by the emotions that erupted.”
In one of the key scenes at the end of the film, he only did one take, and the actors thought it was just a rehearsal for the camera. Their reactions on the screen are not contrived: “Something new, unexpected, happened. And the surprise, but also the fear, which you could read on their faces, was a real surprise, a real terror. They didn’t expect it at all. It’s obviously something we wouldn’t have. We could if we’d rehearsed.”
Similarly, at the request of the director, Laura Dern was not seen on the set on the first day of shooting (which corresponds to the first scene of the film). Thus, when he knocked on Hugh Jackman’s door, he discovered the apartment’s decor, as well as Vanessa Kirby, whom he had never met before.
Source: Allocine

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.