--- title: "The Son: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-son/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-son" critics_score: 53 critics_reviews: 20 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): what the critics said Critics' score 53 from 20 reviews: 7 positive, 5 mixed, 8 negative. 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. ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 8 September 2022. 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 the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-son-2022) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 7 September 2022. 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 the review](https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/the-son-review-florian-zeller-hugh-jackman-laura-dern-1235355208/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 8 September 2022. Festival review. 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 the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-son-venice-review/5174199.article) ## Radio Times — Emma Simmonds Rating 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 the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-o917n8/the-son/) ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich Rating C. 7 September 2022. Festival review. 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 the review](https://www.indiewire.com/2022/09/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-1234759132/) ## Little White Lies — Hannah Strong Rating 4/2/2. 14 February 2023. 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 the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-son) ## RogerEbert.com — Nell Minow Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2023. 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 the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-son-movie-review-2022) ## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin Rating 2/5. 16 February 2023. 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 the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/son-review-oscar-winner-florian-zellers-bubble-bursts-mopey/) ## The AV Club Rating D. 25 November 2022. 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 the review](https://www.avclub.com/son-movie-review-florian-zeller-hugh-jackman-laura-dern-1849799488) ## Los Angeles Times — Michael Rechtshaffen Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 25 November 2022. 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 the review](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 Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 23 November 2022. 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 the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/23/movies/the-son-review.html) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 11 November 2022. 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 the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/the-son-review-so-bad-youll-question-the-father.html) ## Empire — Olly Richards 14 February 2023. 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 the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-son/) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan 16 February 2023. 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 the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-son-movie-review-hugh-jackman-anthony-hopkins-florian-zeller-b1060591.html) ## Financial Times — Danny Leigh Rating ★☆☆☆☆. 16 February 2023. 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 the review](https://www.ft.com/content/8523df66-41ed-421a-a72f-44fc1ff8c068) ## Sight and Sound 20 September 2022. Festival review. 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 the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/son-follow-that-cant-quite-fill-fathers-shoes) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 19 February 2023. 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 the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/19/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-florian-zeller-anthony-hopkins) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney 7 September 2022. Festival review. 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 the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-son-hugh-jackman-in-florian-zeller-teen-depression-drama-1235212545/) ## The i Paper — Geoffrey Macnab 17 February 2023. 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 the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/florian-zeller-film-the-son-depression-2148488) ## The Times 17 February 2023. 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 the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-son-review-a-wearily-predictable-prequel-to-the-father-pgtd67bcw) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 7 September 2022. Festival review. 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 the review](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 Rating 8/10. 13 September 2022. Festival review. 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 the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1005790/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-is-devastating-in-this-wrenching-portrait-of-depression-tiff/) ## The Wrap — Steve Pond Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2023. 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 the review](https://www.thewrap.com/the-son-film-review-hugh-jackman-laura-dern/) ## Eye for Film — Anne-Katrin Titze Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 17 January 2023. Festival review. 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 the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-son-2022-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze) ## HeyUGuys — Emily Breen Rating 3/5. 10 February 2023. 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 the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-son-review/) ## Collider — Ross Bonaime Rating C-. 17 September 2022. 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 the review](https://collider.com/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-florian-zeller/) ## The Playlist — Marshall Shaffer Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 7 September 2022. Festival review. 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 the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-ably-anchors-a-devastating-but-ultimately-dull-domestic-drama-venice-20220907/) ## NME — Paul Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 17 February 2023. 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 the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/the-son-review-hugh-jackman-3399943) ## Film Stories — Tim Murray 22 February 2023. 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 the review](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/the-son-review-a-portrait-of-mental-health-and-parental-struggles/) ## Paste — Rory Doherty Rating 3.0. 24 November 2022. The film dehumanizes depression, treats it manipulatively from the outside, with stilted performances and no real insight or empathy. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/florian-zeller/the-son-review) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-son.md