There are films that are often talked about as “Oscar bait” because of their amazing casts, acclaimed directors, and heartfelt stories. But then you have something like “The Son,” which seems like it was tailor-made to be a sure-thing Oscar contender. That isn’t a slight against the film, but it’s hard to deny that “The Son” just ticks all the boxes of films that the Academy sure does love.
As seen in the new trailer for “The Son,” the film follows the story of a family struggling to reconnect after a tumultuous time, as a father works through his busy life with a new child and new partner while also trying to juggle the commitments of a past marriage and a teenage son. Not only is “The Son” the next film from Oscar-winning filmmaker Florian Zeller, who last wowed audiences with “The Father,” but he’s attracted another amazing cast for this film. Just try to count the number of awards folks like Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, and Anthony Hopkins have earned over the course of their careers.
In our review of the film, we were mixed on the finished product and said, “There’s enough humanity from the story and performers alike that cuts to the soul and mostly offsets the uninspired direction. But ‘The Son’ should shine at least a little brighter through the dark material given these participants and their previous triumphs.”
“The Son” is set to open in select theaters on November 25 before expanding wide on December 16. You can watch the new trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
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.