A drama that follows a family as it struggles to reunite after falling apart. THE SON centers on Peter (Jackman), whose hectic life with his infant and new partner Beth (Kirby) is upended when his ex-wife Kate (Dern) appears with their son Nicholas (McGrath), who is now a teenager. The young man has been missing from school for months and is troubled, distant, and angry. Peter strives to take care of Nicholas as he would have liked his own father to have taken care of him while juggling work, his and Beth’s new son, and the offer of his dream position in Washington. However, by reaching for the past to correct its mistakes, he loses sight of how to hold onto the Nicholas in the present.
For in-depth thoughts on The Son, please see my colleague Brandon Lewis’s review from its original TIFF screening here.
Video Quality
The Son comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that is visually outstanding. This finely crafted film deftly captures the clean production design of the apartment throughout where you can see an incredible amount of detail. The interiors are crisp in their clarity with objects maintaining their form even in the shadows. The film is not bursting with vivid colors, but there are specific environments that come alive more in flashback. Highlights are handled beautifully, along with the deep blacks that do not appear to suffer from any compression artifacts or banding. Skin tones look very detailed and natural all around. This presentation is every bit as inviting as you would hope.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that captures the sonic ambition of this narrative with ease. The dialogue comes through clearly without ever being overpowered by the environmental sounds or the score. The sound design is nothing too adventurous, but it plays well with the visuals with all of the sounds positioned just right in the mix. The environmental effects occasionally create unnerving moments of tension when the plot calls for it. This is the opposite of an action-heavy film, so the activity in the low end is negligible throughout the presentation. The effective score from Hans Zimmer is showcased beautifully here with a gently enveloping use of the surround speakers. This release does everything it needs to without fail. There are optional English, English SDH, Cantonese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Spanish and Thai subtitles provided.
Special Features
- Bringing The Son To The Screen: An 11-minute piece in which the cast and creative team discuss adapting the source material to the screen, the themes on display, why Hugh Jackman was perfect for this role, finding honesty on screen, the directing style of Florian Zeller, the conversations they hope this film inspires and more.
- Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here that accurately captures the tone of the film.
- Previews: This disc provides trailers for The Father, The Duke, Mothering Sunday, The Phantom of the Open and Living.
Final Thoughts
The Son finds filmmaker Florian Zeller once again tackling deeply emotional and heart wrenching material, only this time the result is less enthusiastically positive. The intention of the material is admirable, but the way it is executed leaves you feeling a bit hollow rather than moved. Not even the performances can elevate this to something special, as Vanessa Kirby seems to be the only consistently great part of the movie. There are individual scenes that make an impact, but the messaging and execution is too inconsistent to be of exceptional quality. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has provided a tremendous Blu-Ray with a 5-star A/V presentation and a decent supplemental feature.
The Son is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
