Most critics find The Son’s Room moving and humane, with praise concentrated on its patient treatment of grief and the performances. The favourable reviews describe Moretti’s direction as restrained, allowing intimate family details to convey the effects of loss without forcing a response. His vulnerable portrayal of a father draws particular appreciation, while Laura Morante’s performance receives repeated praise for making a mother’s grief painfully convincing.
The disagreement centres on sentimentality, with assessments ranging from deeply affected to distinctly qualified rather than hostile. Empire finds tenderness and truthful domestic observation, but argues that the sentiment softens the agony. Slant Magazine likewise considers the handling of grief frequently overdone, while finding some quieter passages affecting. The Guardian’s reservation is narrower: it finds the score slightly saccharine despite praising the drama’s emotional credibility. Restraint is therefore both the consensus’s chief praise and its main point of dispute.