---
title: "The Son"
year: 2022
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-son"
fi1m_id: "the-son"
imdb_id: "tt14458442"
tmdb_id: 806368
wikidata_id: "Q108470901"
fi1m_score: 43
critics_score: 53
critics_reviews: 20
published: "2026-09-11"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:09.803153+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Son (2022)

Directed by Florian Zeller · 2h 03m · MPA PG-13 · Drama

## Identity

The Son

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-son
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-son
- **IMDb ID:** tt14458442
- **TMDB ID:** 806368
- **Wikidata ID:** Q108470901
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14458442/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/806368, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108470901

**Fi1m score: 43** · Critics 53 from 20 reviews

*In a sentence:* Hugh Jackman works hard enough for an entire family, but somebody still needs to rewrite their conversations

> Florian Zeller’s family drama is disappointingly shallow about teenage depression. Hugh Jackman finds moments of painful parental uncertainty, but the script gives the adults’ guilt more attention than the boy they are trying to help.

## Synopsis

Peter (Hugh Jackman), a high-achieving lawyer, struggles to respond when his teenage son Nicholas (Zen McGrath) suffers from depression. Their family has been affected by divorce, and Peter’s attempts to help raise questions about what he understands of his son and of being a parent. The crisis involves several generations, with guilt and old family wounds complicating the search for a way forward. Florian Zeller directs, with Laura Dern as Kate, Vanessa Kirby as Beth and Anthony Hopkins as Anthony, in a drama about the limits of parental love.

## Review

Florian Zeller’s *The Son* is a poor family drama built around a serious and worthwhile subject: a parent trying to help a teenager with depression. Peter, played by Hugh Jackman, is a high-achieving lawyer whose confidence is of limited use when dealing with his son Nicholas, played by Zen McGrath. There is plenty to explore in that failure of understanding. At 123 minutes, though, the film spends too long expressing the adults’ distress without bringing us much closer to the boy.

Zeller and co-writer Christopher Hampton have a sound starting point in Peter’s guilt and his wish to be a good father. Those are credible concerns, and the film is right not to offer a neat explanation for Nicholas’s illness. But the dialogue keeps explaining feelings that the actors have already made clear. The adults repeatedly articulate their anguish, while Nicholas remains so thinly written that his pain becomes something for the others to respond to.

Jackman gives Peter enough uncertainty to make that imbalance frustrating. We were moved by his effort to keep the guilt from showing, because the strain makes Peter’s wish to be a capable father painfully clear. His composure seems to require work, and Jackman lets that effort show without making Peter entirely aware of it. When the performance becomes more openly anguished, it is less persuasive; the writing asks for an intensity that the relationships have not earned.

McGrath has the harder assignment, and blaming him for Nicholas’s remoteness would let the screenplay off too easily. He gives the teenager’s distress credibility, but there is too little of a person beyond it for him to play. Laura Dern as Kate and Vanessa Kirby as Beth make some stiff lines sound briefly human, though their parts do not sustain that relief. Anthony Hopkins brings an unpleasant coldness to Anthony, adding some force to the film’s interest in what one generation passes to another.

Ben Smithard’s cinematography and Simon Bowles’s production design give the everyday rooms a degree of menace, an effective choice for a story in which family life has become frightening. The polished look can also make the distress feel sanitised. Yorgos Lamprinos’s editing does little to relieve the script’s repetitive emphasis on parental worry. Hans Zimmer’s music adds to the pressure to feel something that the dialogue has not earned, making already heavy scenes harder to sit through.

The comparison with Zeller’s earlier [*The Father*](https://film.one/film/the-father) is hard to avoid, although this film does not need elaborate storytelling to justify itself. A straightforward family drama can be exact about the small differences between what people say and what they understand. Here, the lack of access to Nicholas leaves the adults’ bewilderment doing most of the dramatic work. Zeller’s simpler approach needed a fuller account of Nicholas as a person, including something that might help us imagine him outside these conversations.

There is a place for films about parents who cannot understand what their children are experiencing, and they need not provide solutions. They do need to give the child a life beyond the crisis, particularly when that crisis is the reason everyone else has a part. Jackman’s admirers will find passages worth their attention here. For an evening spent with a family who feel like people beyond their suffering, we would choose something else.

*Fi1m score 43, published 11 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The consensus on The Son is mixed, with a wide split over whether its treatment of depression is compassionate or manipulative. Praise clusters around Hugh Jackman, whose portrayal of parental guilt earns approval even from critics dissatisfied with the film. Time Out finds his performance full of empathy and the domestic crisis tough but rewarding.

Reservations centre on the writing and direction: thin characters, stagey dialogue and straightforward storytelling that repeatedly invites unfavourable comparisons with The Father. Several critics argue that the father’s anguish receives attention at the expense of the son’s experience; Vulture sees that emphasis as a fundamental failure of empathy. Supporters instead find emotional force in the family’s distress and value the film’s seriousness about mental illness. Jackman is not universally admired, either: The Times finds his performance histrionic. The sharpest disagreement concerns whether the film helps audiences understand depression or merely subjects them to suffering.

## Straight answers

**Is The Son worth watching?**

*The Son* is not worth watching for most people, and we scored it 43. Hugh Jackman gives a careful, strained performance as a father out of his depth, but the script keeps the adults' guilt in the foreground and leaves the depressed teenager thinly written. Jackman's admirers will find passages worth their time; anyone wanting a family drama about people rather than anguish should look elsewhere.

**How long is The Son, and what is it rated?**

*The Son* runs 2h 03m and is rated PG-13 by the MPA in the US. It is a drama film.

**Where can I watch The Son in the US?**

*The Son* is streaming on Disney+ in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Son, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Son* carries a UK 15 certificate and is not suitable for children. There is no action violence, but the subject is a teenager's depression, and the film dwells on distress within a household that has become frightening to live in. Older teenagers may manage it, though the heavy tone and the Hans Zimmer score make already painful scenes harder to sit through.

**How does The Son compare to Ordinary People?**

*The Son* is the weaker of the two, and [*Ordinary People*](https://film.one/film/ordinary-people) is the film we would choose for a family drama about grief and guilt. Both screenplays explain more than they need to, but Redford's film gives its troubled mother and son lives beyond the crisis, where Zeller's leaves the boy little to play. Viewers drawn only by Hugh Jackman may still prefer the later film.

**What should I watch after The Son?**

After *The Son*, try [*Ordinary People*](https://film.one/film/ordinary-people) (1980, Fi1m 81): A family drama that gives grief, anger and uneasy silences their due. Then [*The Father*](https://film.one/film/the-father) (2020, Fi1m 89): Zeller’s earlier film brings us closer to the person experiencing the illness; and [*A Separation*](https://film.one/film/a-separation) (2011, Fi1m 93): Parents and a child face conflicting loyalties without being reduced to case studies.

### Reviews we read (30)

- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (4/5): Zeller delivers another hard-hitting portrait of domestic crisis that is tough but rewarding. Jackman gives a career-best performance full of empathy and compassion in this story of parental failure. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-son-2022)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (75/100, inferred): Zeller adapts his most personal play into a tense, important film about mental health that succeeds in getting audiences thinking. Hugh Jackman delivers a layered performance as a man caught up in his own kind of performance as an ideal patriarch. [Read](https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/the-son-review-florian-zeller-hugh-jackman-laura-dern-1235355208/)
- **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): The film is undeniably powerful but a more straightforward and conventional piece of storytelling than The Father. It is compassionate and acutely observed with a wrenching Jackman performance. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-son-venice-review/5174199.article)
- **Radio Times**, Emma Simmonds (3/5): The film features credible work from McGrath but lacks insight into his character and often feels stiff and sanitised. Jackman captures guilt behind a facade but struggles in more anguished scenes. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-o917n8/the-son/)
- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich (C): The critic calls the film a stiff and straightforward family portrait that makes the prior film seem far better by comparison, lacking puzzle-box magic and emphasizing the senselessness of depression through simplicity. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/2022/09/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-1234759132/)
- **Little White Lies**, Hannah Strong (4/2/2): Zeller’s follow-up fails to match the emotional impact of The Father and offers a reductive take on teen depression. The film is relentlessly miserable with stagey dialogue and thinly realised characters despite its starry cast. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-son)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Nell Minow (40/100, inferred): The film is well-intentioned but poorly constructed and disappointing compared to Zeller's previous work. It features some affecting scenes but relies on superficial and manipulative storytelling. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-son-movie-review-2022)
- **The Telegraph**, Robbie Collin (2/5): Zeller’s follow-up fails to match The Father, resulting in a drab, simplistic soap opera with mopey characters and one especially ill-judged performance. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/son-review-oscar-winner-florian-zellers-bubble-bursts-mopey/)
- **The AV Club** (D): The critic finds the film overwrought and underwhelming, a bleak TV-movie-level affair with simplistic solutions to complex mental health issues, though strong performances from the cast nearly make it watchable. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/son-movie-review-florian-zeller-hugh-jackman-laura-dern-1849799488)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Michael Rechtshaffen (35/100, inferred): The film settles for shallow character development and self-indulgent tropes that distract from a strong Hugh Jackman performance. It adds little of substance to the conversation about clinical depression and holds its characters frustratingly out of reach. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-11-25/review-the-son-hugh-jackman-florian-zeller-drama)
- **The New York Times**, Natalia Winkelman (30/100, inferred): Zeller's leaden drama fails to probe the perspectives of its characters and leaves actors stranded with clunky lines. It tackles adolescent depression in an artificial, midcentury manner unlike the subjectivity of 'The Father.' [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/23/movies/the-son-review.html)
- **Vulture** (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the film emotionally unconvincing, dramatically rote, and unapologetic about treating a child's depression as a parental burden, making one question the prior film's quality. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/the-son-review-so-bad-youll-question-the-father.html)
- **Empire**, Olly Richards: The film is a familiar, solidly told and well-acted story of family crisis but lacks the inventive storytelling of Zeller's previous film The Father. Hugh Jackman gives a strong dramatic performance as the father. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-son/)
- **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan: The script is mostly a simplistic and over-earnest mess that fails to live up to The Father, with the focus on the father undermining the son's pain. A few sequences are sublime and the cast, especially Jackman, Dern and Hopkins, is superb. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-son-movie-review-hugh-jackman-anthony-hopkins-florian-zeller-b1060591.html)
- **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (★☆☆☆☆): An appalling, manipulative follow-up to the masterpiece The Father, cynically directing attention to the parent’s anguish while mishandling the child’s mental health crisis. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/8523df66-41ed-421a-a72f-44fc1ff8c068)
- **Sight and Sound**: Zeller’s follow-up lacks the cinematic creativity of The Father and often spills into melodrama despite a strong Hugh Jackman performance. The film relays its tragic events with plangent plainness rather than innovative technique. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/son-follow-that-cant-quite-fill-fathers-shoes)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw: Zeller’s follow-up is a solid, affecting domestic drama about a parent struggling with his teenage son’s mental health issues, but it lacks the complexity and ingenuity of The Father. Jackman gives a terrific performance as the high-achieving lawyer knocked off kilter, though the insights are basic and the storytelling more straightforward. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/19/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-florian-zeller-anthony-hopkins)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney: The critic finds Hugh Jackman outstanding as the father but deems the film stubbornly unemotional overall, with the son's character kept at a distance and the direction turning the story into a punishing slog. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-son-hugh-jackman-in-florian-zeller-teen-depression-drama-1235212545/)
- **The i Paper**, Geoffrey Macnab: The film is a contrived and heavy-handed study of teen depression that never feels as harrowing or moving as it should, despite strong performances. Zeller avoids glib answers but the drama feels pre-ordained and downbeat. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/florian-zeller-film-the-son-depression-2148488)
- **The Times**: Zeller’s latest is a wearily predictable prequel to The Father that lacks compassion and cinematic style. It features bulgy histrionics from Jackman in a cautionary family drama about the impact of divorce on a troubled son, with Hopkins in a desultory cameo. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-son-review-a-wearily-predictable-prequel-to-the-father-pgtd67bcw)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it a strong, emotionally powerful character-driven family drama with an intimate feel and superb cast performances, especially Hugh Jackman as a father facing impossible choices. It highlights the universal impact of mental health struggles on families. [Read](https://deadline.com/2022/09/the-son-venice-review-hugh-jackman-in-florian-zellers-gripping-followup-to-oscar-winning-the-father-1235109742/)
- **/Film**, Chris Evangelista (8/10): Jackman delivers one of his best dramatic performances in this wrenching portrait of depression and family crisis. The film accurately captures the devastating nature of mental illness through strong acting and emotional intensity. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1005790/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-is-devastating-in-this-wrenching-portrait-of-depression-tiff/)
- **The Wrap**, Steve Pond (75/100, inferred): The critic describes it as a serious, sensitive examination of teen depression and family guilt that is bolder and more agitated than Zeller's previous film but remains attuned to mental illness. It singles out the remarkable cast, including a devastating cameo by Anthony Hopkins, and the way everyday spaces convey dread. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-son-film-review-hugh-jackman-laura-dern/)
- **Eye for Film**, Anne-Katrin Titze (70/100, inferred): Zeller explores intergenerational trauma, boundaries and the limits of parental love in this drama centered on a teenager's depression. Strong performances, especially Hopkins as a cold patriarch, and precise direction highlight the disconnect between parents and child amid mounting guilt. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-son-2022-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze)
- **HeyUGuys**, Emily Breen (3/5): The film attempts to confront depression but is flawed by its focus on the father's suffering over the son's, diluting its power despite strong performances from Jackman and McGrath. Sound design and generational trauma elements are highlights, but the narrative feels distracted and hesitant. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-son-review/)
- **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (C-): The critic finds the film bleak and false, missing the humanity of Zeller's previous work The Father; it handles depression on a surface level without emotional impact. [Read](https://collider.com/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-florian-zeller/)
- **The Playlist**, Marshall Shaffer (50/100, inferred): Jackman anchors the domestic drama effectively, but Zeller fails to replicate the magic of The Father, resulting in a middling, maudlin piece that feels less cinematic despite thematic weight. Over-the-top elements and uninspired direction undercut the story's potential. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-ably-anchors-a-devastating-but-ultimately-dull-domestic-drama-venice-20220907/)
- **NME**, Paul Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): The critic finds it a heavy-handed and clumsy melodrama that doesn't do justice to its strong cast of Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, and Vanessa Kirby. They single out the actors' performances for praise while criticizing the script's lack of nuance and stagey quality. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-3399943)
- **Film Stories**, Tim Murray: Zeller delivers an assured follow-up to The Father, successfully tackling mental health, guilt and parental struggles with a strong ensemble cast. The film benefits from skillful direction and chaotic camerawork that mirrors the characters' turmoil, though it is slightly less impactful than the debut. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/the-son-review-a-portrait-of-mental-health-and-parental-struggles/)
- **Paste**, Rory Doherty (3.0): The film dehumanizes depression, treats it manipulatively from the outside, with stilted performances and no real insight or empathy. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/florian-zeller/the-son-review)

## Details

- **Director:** Florian Zeller
- **Director:** Florian Zeller
- **Screenplay:** Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
- **Cinematography:** Ben Smithard
- **Editor:** Yorgos Lamprinos
- **Music:** Hans Zimmer
- **Production design:** Simon Bowles
- **Costume design:** Lisa Duncan
- **Producer:** Christophe Spadone, Emile Sherman, Karl Hartman
- **Cast:** Hugh Jackman as Peter; Zen McGrath as Nicholas; Vanessa Kirby as Beth; Laura Dern as Kate; Anthony Hopkins as Anthony; William Hope as Andrew; George Cobell as Nicholas (6 Years); Felix Goddard as Theo
- **Runtime:** 2h 03m
- **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13
- **Release (the US):** 20 January 2023
- **Genres:** Drama
- **Box office:** $4 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJWRY4DzoAQ

## Where to watch in the US

- Disney+: add-on, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-11.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, ID, IE, IN, IT, MX, MY, NL, NO, PA, PH, PL, PT, RS, SE, SG, TH, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Ordinary People* (1980), Fi1m 81: A family drama that gives grief, anger and uneasy silences their due. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ordinary-people.md)
- *The Father* (2020), Fi1m 89: Zeller’s earlier film brings us closer to the person experiencing the illness. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-father.md)
- *Still Walking* (2008): Old family resentments emerge through conversation, with patience and attention to ordinary behaviour.
- *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: Parents and a child face conflicting loyalties without being reduced to case studies. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md)
- *The Quiet Girl* (2022), Fi1m 84: A withdrawn child’s experience receives the patient attention missing here. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-girl.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-son