Film: The Father

GENRE: Drama
RATING: PG-13 for strong language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 37 minutes
PLATFORM: Online rental
STARRING: Anthony Hopkins (Howard’s End, Shadowlands, Thor)
Olivia Colman (The Crown, The Favourite), Rufus Sewell (Dark City)
DIRECTOR: Florian Zeller (newcomer)
WRITER: Christopher Hampton (Atonement) & Zeller (the play)
PLOT: A man with dementia refuses the assistance from his daughter.   

FULL DISCLOSURE: Worried about this one being a downer.  

STORY STUFF: Dementia sucks. I’m sorry if this is ruining the film for others but be prepared to be confused as you see things from Hopkins point of view. Things are not always what they seem and can be jarring at times. It’s pretty tragic when you know lots of people go through this. Watching this film, it reminded me a bit of my Opa; I was young though.  

ACTING STUFF: Hopkins is pretty amazing in this film. His work is compelling, tense, charming and incredibly sad; it definitely garnered a few tears. I did enjoy his obsession with his watch. Colman’s role as the daughter is heartbreaking as you feel her struggle watching her father deteriorate with this awful mental disease. Awesome acting all around.      

ARTISTIC STUFF: As this film is based on a play, the set is very contained but dressed well. The classical music throughout is very beautiful and haunting at times. Not much else to say.

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You are prepared to be sad and think of grandparents.
UPCOMING REVIEW: Minari, Trial of the Chicago 7