The Son
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: November 25, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 46 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
18
Negative:
14

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeFeb 19, 2023
Zeller explores how sadness repels; how people involuntarily recoil from depression, perpetuating the isolation of the sufferer. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly RichardsFeb 14, 2023
Robustly acted by a superb cast and with some beautiful moments, this follow-up to The Father nevertheless feels less mature and less sure of itself. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneNov 21, 2022
If The Son lacks the grip of Zeller’s previous film, “The Father” (2020), it’s because the fable of Nicholas and Peter has the brittle feel of a setup. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredMartin CarrOct 19, 2022
This supremely talented ensemble cast are unable to save 'The Son' from being an overly emotive disappointment. Read full review
60
BBCSteph GreenSep 7, 2022
It is a flawed film with a kind heart, but a significantly less impressive progeny of The Father's talky triumph. Like father, like son? Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case. Read full review
60
Total FilmJane CrowtherSep 7, 2022
Classy but curiously empty, The Son may be a spiritual sequel to The Father, but it’s not its equal. Read full review
50
Film ThreatAlan NgFeb 6, 2023
This feels like a high-budget television drama. Let’s face it, Jackman, Dern, and Kirby can elevate pedestrian dialogue, but they deserve higher quality work for their talent. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneK. Austin CollinsJan 19, 2023
The film is moving. It’s also a bit reductive. The flaw is in the way that one enables the other. Read full review
50
Original-CinKaren GordonJan 19, 2023
Writer-director Florian Zeller is aiming to go deeper here, and brings a lot of emotional and psychological complexity to the story. The film has depth and sincerity. Despite that and the excellent work of its cast —led by Hugh Jackman in a fine performance — the film stalls and falters midway through. Read full review
50
The Film StageLuke HicksSep 15, 2022
It’s hard to imagine mal intent from the mind behind The Father, a film laced with an intoxicating empathy, but it’s not hard to imagine a lesser work. If we’re giving Zeller benefit of the doubt, it just goes to show how difficult it is for a director to make back-to-back bangers. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 7, 2022
This is Jackman’s movie. He makes Peter’s helplessness intensely moving as he keeps trying, against mounting odds and false breakthroughs, to communicate with a child who remains out of reach. Sadly, that goes for The Son, as much as the son. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 7, 2022
The Son is too suffocated by the severity of its writing and the sterility of its environments for the film’s characters to grow beyond the scenarios they represent. Read full review
42
ColliderRoss BonaimeJan 23, 2023
With The Son, Zeller is trying to bring the same sincerity he brought to The Father into his second film, and instead, The Son unfortunately feels false throughout. Read full review
40
NMEPaul BradshawFeb 17, 2023
Hopkins steals the film with a wonderfully unlikeable cameo, but it’s the triple-header of Jackman, Dern and Kirby that really lifts the film far above its own script. Read full review
40
Little White LiesHannah StrongFeb 17, 2023
Even the magnetic likes of Jackman, Dern and Kirby are wasted here, to the extent that by the time The Son reaches its miserable, cloying foregone conclusion, it’s a relief to be free of the uninspired direction and paint-by-numbers interrogation of a subject that deserves much more depth. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicKimi RobinsonJan 19, 2023
It’s too bad that these maternal figures aren’t given much more to do except worry about their progeny in “The Son.” Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenDec 1, 2022
The depiction of teenage acute depression settles for shallow character development and self-indulgent tropes that distract from a strong Hugh Jackman performance. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinSep 9, 2022
The film contains deeply felt work by Hugh Jackman and Vanessa Kirby, but it’s an otherwise drab, simplistic, mechanical thing that wears its workings right on the surface. Read full review
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