Movie Review - The Father (2020)

In a weird way, this film has more in common with a horror film like Jacob's Ladder (1990) or In the Mouth of Madness (1994) than more dramatic films like Away From Her (2006) and Still Alice (2014). In reality, this film, written and directed by Florian Zeller, in his feature debut, based on his play, is probably somewhere in the middle of those psychological horror films and dramatic films about dementia or Alzheimer's. In the end, it's about a person with a mental illness for which there is no cure and experiencing that mental illness from the point-of-view of the person who has it. It's also about the family members struggling on how to handle or what to do about that loved one with the mental illness.

Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes and The Silence of the Lambs) stars as Anthony, a man who like the actor himself is an octogenarian. It's never said what mental illness he has. It could be Alzheimer's disease or some kind of dementia. It also could just be senility due to his old age. He lives in an apartment or flat in London with his adult daughter, but she tells him that she's moving to Paris with her partner. She insists that she can't leave him alone, so she needs to hire a nurse to care for him. Yet, because Anthony has quarreled with his last nurse, there's a possibility that he might need to be put in a nursing home or elderly facility, which he doesn't want.

Olivia Colman (The Crown and The Favourite) co-stars as Anne, the daughter to Anthony. She takes care of him. She makes sure he gets dressed. She cooks his food. She gives him his medicine. She tells her father though that she's moving to Paris. She has a complicated relationship with her father. She loves him, but she recognizes that his illness is destroying that relationship. It's also getting to a point from her perspective that she can't properly care for him. Yet, given certain circumstances, she feels guilty about leaving him. Those circumstances involve other family members not being there. She struggles with how long she can maintain this complicated relationship.

What makes this film particularly horrifying or scary is that immediately after learning about Anne, Zeller makes us question if everything we learn about Anne is even true. We question if Anne is going to Paris. We question if she's married or divorced. We question if she lives with him or not. We question if his daughter is even alive or not. Through casting and through cinematography and production design, Zeller is able to show the disorientation of Anthony while also disorienting anyone watching his film. Casting for everyone in Anthony's life changes, including that of his daughter. The cinematography and the production design is done in such a way, particularly shots of doorways and hallways, to make every place feel similar, even though they might be different.

There's also a prop item that works in connection with Hopkins' performance. It works to disorient Anthony's chronologically. The aforementioned stuff disorients Anthony spatially and chronologically at times, but there's a specific prop item that is literally tied to the chronology or at least one's perception of time. That prop item along with Hopkins are really well utilized, if even in subtle ways but often overt ways. It all builds to an incredible scene that carries the idea of second adolescence to its logical conclusion. The idea of an old person reverting to a younger state of being or a younger time. Hopkins leans all the way into that idea and it's heart-wrenching.

This film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Production Design. I agree with all those nominations.

Rated PG-13 for some strong language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 37 mins.

In select theaters.