AFI Fest: “The Son,” “Women Talking” and "Alcarràs"

by Christopher James

Sarah Polley assembles a terrific ensemble for her fourth feature, "Women Talking."

Though Saturday was Day Four of the AFI festival, it was merely my second day spent wandering around the halls of the TCL Chinese Theater subsisting on popcorn and soda alone. What a doozy of a day it was. The films all spoke in different ways to parenthood, family, community, and gender dynamics. Between Sarah Polley's Women Talking, Florian Zeller's The Son and Carla Simón's Alcarràs which film soared to be the best of the bunch and which missed the mark entirely? My takes on all three are after the jump...

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TIFF Diary #5: Disappointing Oscar bait and a surprise favourite

by Baby Clyde

Hugh Jackman and Florian Zeller on the set of "The Son"

Today I had no mid-film snooze problems. The screenings started at midday with Florian Zeller’s adaptation of his own play The Son. I saw the original London production back in 2019: Great performances. Terrible play. Though Zeller has ironed out some of the innate staginess of the source material The Son can’t overcome the fact that this is not a play about the teenage depression epidemic but rather about absurdly inept parenting. The choices made are so ludicrous and the reasoning so shallow I laughed out loud on numerous occasions. They also kept the queasily distasteful, possible twist as a coda which is no less objectionable on film than it was on the stage. Sir Anthony pops up briefly in what is presumably a reprise of his character from The Father. He makes more impact in three minutes than the rest of the cast do in the other two hours of contrived torment. Consider it the first proper clunker of this Oscar season.

Empire of Light was next and has seemingly been genetically engineered in a film lab to garner Oscar noms...

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Venice Diary #08 - "The Son", "Beyond the Wall", and "Dreamin' Wild"

by Elisa Giudici

Today on the menu in Venice, there is only one option: crying your heart out. You can choose which missing son and worried parent will tear your heart in pieces, though.

THE SON by Florian Zeller
Who is 'the son' of the title? That's debatable. There is the troubled teenager Nicholas (Zen McGrath) that Peter (Hugh Jackman) had with his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern). Peter also has a newborn son he is raising with his new partner Beth (Vanessa Kirby). Maybe Peter himself is the titular character? He's learning some hard lessons in being a father while struggling with what it means to be the son of Anthony (Sir Anthony Hopkins). I would say the latter, considering how this movie works best as a reminder of Hugh Jackman’s considerable acting skill...

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Venice at Home – Day 8: Who Are We?

by Cláudio Alves

Before either film had been screened to the public or press, there was already buzz surrounding Alice Diop and Florian Zeller's newest films. Many called Saint-Omer, Diop's first narrative feature after many documentaries, a likely contender for the Golden Lion. Lo and behold, the picture has receiving glowing reviews, which is unsurprising. In contrast, this eighth day of competition at the Lido saw a shocking development with Florian Zeller's follow-up to The Father. Defying expectations The Son has received mixed reviews, some of which lambast it unsparingly. Not even the cast is above reproach to the naysayers. Even so, Hugh Jackman remains mostly unscathed, keeping those Best Actor dreams alive.  Let's not forget that Zeller directed Anthony Hopkins to his second Academy Award. So let's take a look back at The Father and Alice Diop's last documentary before Saint-Omer…

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"Quo Vadis, Aida?" and "Flee" win big at the European Film Awards

by Nathaniel R

The years bleed together in the world of movie awards. Quo Vadis Aida?, the Bosnian drama, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020 before receiving an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film that same season. It lost the Oscar to 2020's European Film Awards champ, Denmark's Another Round. Now, a full movie awards season later, it has succeeded its once-vanquisher to also take the top prize at the European Film Awards. What's more two British Oscar winners last year, Promising Young Woman and The Father also picked up key prizes. The only Oscar hopeful this season that arguably got a boost from the European Awards was the animated documentary Flee, which triumphed in both of its categories, Animated Feature & Documentary Feature, a double-whammy it surely hopes to achieve again at the Oscars. You can watch the ceremony here if you're so inclined.

This has no bearing on the Oscars of course, since none of those films are eligible but it is a mild eyebrower raiser that France's Titane, Finland's Compartment No 6, Italy's The Hand of God, and Norway's Worst Person in the World, all of which are award-winning presumed threats to Oscar nominations this season, could beat the year-old Bosnian film in any of their categories. Complete list of winners after the jump...

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