‘The Son’ Film Review: Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern Battle Pain and Guilt in Tough Look at Teen Depression
thewrap.comlife. It’s wearing me down.”For the rest of the film, Nicholas bounces between his father’s house, which scares Beth and puts a strain on that relationship, and his mother’s place, where Kate lives in perpetual fear of what her son might do.As he did in “The Father,” which took place in an apartment that subtly and continually changed to reflect the central character’s state of mind, Zeller pays particular attention to the environments in which his characters live and work.
We find Peter in a sleek train compartment between New York and Washington, D.C., Kate in a woodsy office, Nicholas in stifling classrooms, Beth in a gleaming modern apartment that may not be the best place for a new baby or a troubled teen.
The spaces don’t have to do the heavy lifting of the sets in Zeller’s last film, but each is impeccably drawn by production designer Simon Bowles, and they quickly sketch the distances in these relationships.Nobody here is untouched by pain or by guilt.
Kate lives in a world of bottomless regret and hurt, blaming herself for Nicholas’ depression. Peter knows he may have set things in motion when he left his wife for another woman, but he’s determined to remain in control.
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