The Father

Name: The Father
Genre: Drama
Released: February 26, 2021
Duration: 97 min
Rating: 88
Cast: Adnan Kundi, Anthony Hopkins, Evie Wray, Imogen Poots, Mark Gatiss

2021

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Universal acclaim based on 51 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 275 Ratings

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8.6

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8.6	User Score Universal acclaim based on 275 Ratings

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The Father

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: February 26, 2021 | PG-13

Starring: Adnan Kundi, Anthony Hopkins, Evie Wray, Imogen Poots, Mark Gatiss, Olivia Colman, Olivia Williams, Ray Burnet, Rufus Sewell

Movie Facts:

Received six Academy Award nominations including best picture.

Summary: Anthony is 80, mischievous, living defiantly alone and rejecting the carers that his daughter, Anne, encouragingly introduces. Yet help is also becoming a necessity for Anne; she can’t make daily visits anymore and Anthony's grip on reality is unravelling. As we experience the ebb and flow of his memory, how much of his own identity andAnthony is 80, mischievous, living defiantly alone and rejecting the carers that his daughter, Anne, encouragingly introduces. Yet help is also becoming a necessity for Anne; she can’t make daily visits anymore and Anthony's grip on reality is unravelling. As we experience the ebb and flow of his memory, how much of his own identity and past can Anthony cling to? How does Anne cope as she grieves the loss of her father, while he still lives and breathes before her? … Expand

Director: Florian Zeller

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 97 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Rex Reed

Feb 22, 2021

Another powerful, mesmerizing and downright heartbreaking performance by the great Anthony Hopkins enhances The Father. Read full review

100

Ty Burr

Mar 10, 2021

As Anthony, a blustery London widower whose grip on reality slowly comes unglued over the course of the film, Hopkins does it again. This is a magnificent and harrowing performance: A lion in winter slowly coming to ground. Read full review

100

Empire Nick de Semlyen

Jun 10, 2021

Hopkins is extraordinary as a man flailing against a condition that’s taking everything from him. And Zeller proves he’s a natural filmmaker, orchestrating a Wagnerian opera of emotion based entirely around an old man in a flat. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Feb 24, 2021

The Father is an excellent movie but it’s not a lot of fun to watch, especially for those with first-hand experience in this area. Read full review

IndieWire David Ehrlich

Feb 1, 2020

The Father exists for no discernible reason other than to render an inexplicably cruel element of the human condition in a recognizable way, and to do so in a way that only good art can. Read full review

Bill Goodykoontz

Mar 8, 2021

The Father has occasional splashes of humor, but, by design, it’s tough to watch at times. Hopkins’ performance makes it impossible not to. Read full review

Vince Mancini

Mar 2, 2021

The Father is brilliantly structured and executed, but in the end it’s just a cleverly constructed way to depict the mundane. It never finds that level of the fantastic or allows for the kind of magical thinking necessary to escape its dreary reality. Ultimately it wallows in the pathetic. Who needs this? Read full review

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User Reviews

Camwhit0196

Feb 27, 2021

Anthony Hopkins gives one of the greatest screen performances of all time. He manages to elevate the film and demonstrates why he is an all time great actor.

13 of 16 users found this helpful133

Dunkaccino

Mar 23, 2022

The Father tells an emotional and heartbreaking story, and it's one hell of an example of brilliant filmmaking

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

MattBrady99

Feb 28, 2021

"Why do you keep looking as if there's something wrong? Everything's fine."

I’ve haven’t cried this hard at a movie since 'I'm Thinking of Ending Things'. This is one of those films that just thinking about it or thinking about a specific scene will get my eyes teary. I’m honestly blown"Why do you keep looking as if there's something wrong? Everything's fine."

I’ve haven’t cried this hard at a movie since 'I'm Thinking of Ending Things'. This is one of those films that just thinking about it or thinking about a specific scene will get my eyes teary. I’m honestly blown away by how moved I was by it. One of the best movies of 2020. Anthony Hopkins gives one of the best performance since ‘Silence of the Lambs’. You may think that you've seen everything the veteran actor has to offer, but he continues to surprise and amaze us. He broke my heart a thousand times, especially the last five minutes which was some of the most powerful pieces of acting on screen. On the other hand, he’s also incredibly charming and funny as his character that it made him so mesmerizing to watch. I usually don’t care when it comes to awards, but I genuinely hope he gets some recognition at the Oscars with at least a nomination or maybe a win, because he is truly brilliant in this movie.

Olivia Colman, who plays Anthony's daughter, Anne, was also fantastic in the movie. Her facial expressions solid every emotion that the character was feeling and Colman is an expert at it. The pain, frustration, and the overwhelming love she has for her father, as she tries to find ways of helping him. I can’t imagine a more dreadful sight than watching your loved one decay away before your eyes and there’s nothing you can do about it. While there have been other movies in the past that tackled the topic of dementia and old age on a surface level, where it mainly focuses on how friends and family coop with a significant others condition. However, this movie makes those films look flat in comparison. What makes this movie so different and yet more effective is that it’s told from the perspective of the sufferer. So, his confusion becomes ours. Simple things like switching Olivia Colman with a different actor can have a huge and scary impact, because when this first happened I was stunned, but I quickly realise this is the devastating reality of the disease where people you once knew start to look alienating to you.

Director Florian Zeller dose an excellent job of placing you in the shoes of someone going through dementia and have a better understanding of how the disease can affect you. Any other film marker would’ve done the predictable approach, which is to go over the top with the possibilities of presenting a surreal nightmare with flashy visuals, as a way to show off crazy camera work and digital effects, but Zeller instead keeps things grounded enough while in the imaginary world inside the characters head. It’s true what they say, less is more.

The movie is purposely structured and edited in a disorganised lucid dream-like manner, where certain elements such as the mention of names and the appearance of faces are a mystery to us just like the main character. Who are these people? Why is everything so mysterious? When you try to piece things together with the collection of scattered memories of events, it then gets shuffled around. Although, the movie isn’t as complicated as it may sound, it's just not straight forward narrative wise. It was like watching a horror movie at times with the horrific effects of dementia. Your brain, metaphorically, is like a tree branch filled with leaves, but eventually with the slow effect of the disease, you will lose your leaves. Overall rating: A magnificent movie that helps us understand the struggle and experience of dementia that was executed with extra care. It also goes beyond that in many different ways that I have yet to unlock in my first viewing. It’s a movie that I will never forget.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

Iceman21

Apr 5, 2021

An award-winning play is being made for the big screen - and by its director, who had no previous film experience. Can that work? Florian Zeller proves that it can. Dementia-stricken and proud Anthony learns from his daughter Anne that she will soon be moving to Paris. From then on, ZellerAn award-winning play is being made for the big screen - and by its director, who had no previous film experience. Can that work? Florian Zeller proves that it can. Dementia-stricken and proud Anthony learns from his daughter Anne that she will soon be moving to Paris. From then on, Zeller narrates the successive decline of Anthony's mind in complex but highly emotional and, above all, human ways.

Anthony Hopkins is ideally cast for the lead role of Anthony. On the one hand, he is an empathetic father who means well for his daughter, but on the other, his pride and one-dimensionality make him sullen and critical of her decisions. Hopkins has never been seen in this simplicity. His character does not want to accept that his illness is getting the upper hand and is sure that he can manage without the help of care. At the same time, the increasing memory loss is told exclusively from his point of view, which automatically leads you to sympathise with the protagonist despite his often impossible deeds. This sympathy factor that Hopkins permanently carries with him makes it much easier to relate to him. It is arguably his best performance since his legendary one as Dr Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, albeit much more nuanced and realistic. While the strong female role at his side then was Jodie Foster, this time it is Olivia Colman as Anthony's daughter Anne. She logically disagrees with her father and does everything possible to organise the help he needs before she leaves for Paris. Colman is the heart of the film. She is heartbreaking in this role and often cannot emotionally withstand the pain that the sight of her suffering father causes her. Her chemistry with Hopkins is also very deep and often one would think that the two actually share this kind of father-daughter relationship. Colman is fragile in her individual scenes, but also forcefully strong and always torn about her father's treatment. Rounding out the great cast are Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell and Olivia Williams, all constantly taking on different roles due to the confusion in Anthony's head. Williams in particular adds an enormous amount of vulnerability to her few moments, especially the final scene.

Zeller has succeeded in a very particular kind of filmmaking with The Father. In its simplicity, the film is nevertheless very complexly constructed, especially in the first hour, and one cannot believe that dementia can apparently really trigger this process in a person's head. Because Hopkins does such a fantastic job of translating this and the editing also relies very effectively on surprise and suddenness, it never becomes too much to bear. Zeller also manages not to make the film seem exclusively sad, but also enriches the plot with thoroughly funny interludes. Basically, however, The Father is a sentimental drama that continuously makes hearts beat faster and that you can hardly get through without shedding a tear. An instructive, authentic and fascinating piece of filmmaking that is an absolute hit for a directorial debut and should be seen by everyone despite the vehemence of its subject matter.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Flipje

Dec 17, 2021

The sense of disorientation evoked by this film made it a compelling and stunning watch. Antony (Hopkins) lives in a strange, revolving door of moments whereby we have no idea whether he is in the past or present. The filmmaker, also the writer, Florian Zeller has taken his French play, LaThe sense of disorientation evoked by this film made it a compelling and stunning watch. Antony (Hopkins) lives in a strange, revolving door of moments whereby we have no idea whether he is in the past or present. The filmmaker, also the writer, Florian Zeller has taken his French play, La Père and brought it to the screen, perhaps giving the most realistic portraying of senility slowly emerging in an aging person. Thankfully, he knows when to ground the viewer's perspective, orient them for awhile before bringing back the confusion. A fine balancing act. I will admit, I was hesitant, and for a while, resistant to watching this one, afraid it would be a gloomy trek. It turns out, this movie not only shows you Antony's frustration with his dementia but the plight and frustration of loved ones around him, namely his daughter (Colman) and her husband (Sewell). It is a compassionate film, and it deeply respects its characters and world without dunking its audience into a heavy morass of depression. By the film's end, there is a sense of hope and yet resignation. Life continues, no matter the pain and the confusion. Beautiful, meaningful. Highly recommended.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

moviemitch96

Apr 17, 2021

In this subtle yet tender and heartfelt drama, Anthony Hopkins stars as a man suffering from dementia as his daughter (Olivia Colman) and several others around him try to help him in the face of his stubbornness and unwillingness to accept his state. In addition, his mind and sense ofIn this subtle yet tender and heartfelt drama, Anthony Hopkins stars as a man suffering from dementia as his daughter (Olivia Colman) and several others around him try to help him in the face of his stubbornness and unwillingness to accept his state. In addition, his mind and sense of reality begin to deteriorate as his memories and ability to identify those around him start to fade away. First off, this film does an incredible job of immersing us in Anthony's state of mind and helping us understand his pov. Several other random and unfamiliar characters pop in and out throughout the film, and their true names and identities are never truly established, so like Anthony, even we, the audience, are also confused and never truly certain of what's going on around us or who these other characters are. If this is the closest some of us can come to experiencing what it's like to suffer from dementia, then the film brilliantly succeeds at giving us a glimpse at what it must feel and be like, and it's rather quite heartbreaking to say the least. Furthermore, Hopkins delivers the most deeply felt and personal-feeling performance of his career. His struggle was sincerely felt by me in every moment. Olivia Colman, who also never fails to impress, gives an equally sincere performance as Anthony's daughter Anne. As far as the overall execution of the film goes, it was adapted for the screen and based off director Florian Zeller's French play 'Le Pere', and since much of the film takes place in an apartment flat, it's easy to see that it was originally meant to be a play. However, this hardly detracts from the rest of the film, as the film's strengths easily outweigh this. Overall, the all-too-real feeling and experience of dementia this film portrays, coupled with a pair of tearjerking performances from Hopkins and Colman help this film shine, even if it does prove ultimately sad and difficult to get through, given the subject matter.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

screen

May 12, 2021

Analytical but lacking in compassion. Why is mental illness considered entertainment when mental health care only available to super rich? How is the writer profiting from this setup?

1 of 10 users found this helpful19

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15	#15 Best Movie of 2021
60	#60 Most Discussed Movie of 2021