Zen McGrath makes teenage distress credible, even when the writing gives him little else to play. We see promise in The Son, but need a fuller part before making larger claims for him.
Fi1m perspective
Zen McGrath makes Nicholas’s distress believable in The Son (2022), but the film rarely lets us know the boy beyond it. Opposite him, Hugh Jackman plays Peter, a successful lawyer whose confidence cannot help him understand his son. Florian Zeller gives the father’s uncertainty more attention than the teenager’s character, leaving McGrath with the harder assignment. We were frustrated by that imbalance: McGrath gives us reason to care about Nicholas, then the writing directs our attention back to the adults’ guilt.
His early work runs from Aloft (2014) through the miniseries Dig (2015) to the family adventure Red Dog: True Blue (2016). The Son was his breakthrough lead after those child roles, and it asks him to carry a difficult subject opposite experienced actors. That progression gives us reason to be interested, without supplying much evidence for grand claims. We would be cautious about mistaking the narrowness of Nicholas for the limits of the actor playing him.
Some critics have found his Nicholas too sullen; we think that puts too much of the blame on McGrath. The remoteness is there, but so is a screenplay that scarcely allows him to be anything except troubled. Jackman has moments of painful parental doubt, while Laura Dern and Vanessa Kirby briefly make stiff dialogue sound human. McGrath’s problem is more persistent: conveying distress convincingly cannot supply all the missing details of a person.
McGrath has described preparing for Nicholas by talking to people about their own struggles and how to empathise with the character. We can credit the care without recommending the result: The Son is too shallow about the boy to be a satisfying reason to seek out its lead. We would watch McGrath again, but would rather see him doing something other than carrying a film’s sadness. A part with some humour and ordinary pleasures would be a useful next test. Fi1m
Biography
Zen McGrath is an Australian actor. He was born on 30 July 2002 in Melbourne, Victoria.
McGrath began acting as a child. His early credits include the role of young Ivan in Aloft (2014), Josh in the television miniseries Dig (2015), and Theo Carter in Red Dog: True Blue (2016). He played Nicholas Miller in the 2022 drama The Son, directed by Florian Zeller and starring Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern.
He is the brother of actors Gulliver McGrath and Winta McGrath.
