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'The Son' Ending, Explained - Hugh Jackman Stars in Year's Cruelest Movie - The Daily Beast

'The Son' Ending, Explained - Hugh Jackman Stars in Year's Cruelest Movie - The Daily Beast

'The Son' Ending, Explained - Hugh Jackman Stars in Year's Cruelest Movie - The Daily Beast
Nov 27, 2022 2 mins, 19 secs

The film, about a man named Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) suffering from Alzheimer's, and his strained relationship with his daughter (Olivia Colman), was an authentic portrayal of what it’s like emotionally to deal with a difficult illness.

(The Holy Ghost isn’t yet in the works, but I choose to hold out hope.) The film follows Nicholas (Zen McGrath), a 17-year-old who feels like he can’t live with his mother Kate (Laura Dern) anymore.

In a moment between Nicholas and his father, he makes his pain clear, saying “I don’t know what’s happening to me.” It’s clear their son needs help that neither of them can provide—or rather, it’s clear to everyone who’s watching the film, but this staggeringly obvious fact seems to elude both parents for some time.

In one moment, Nicholas happily dances with his father and Beth, and seconds later, Peter and Beth embrace and completely forget that Nicholas is even there.

It feels like, with Nicholas away in treatment, Kate, Peter, and Beth can finally live their lives without the burden of their depressed son.

The film has made it clear over and over that it doesn’t care about Nicholas, and frankly, neither do his parents.

It’s disingenuous to have Nicholas beg and plead to people who look completely devastated; it’s deeply distasteful and upsetting, considering we’ve watched the film torture him with no repercussions.

Ultimately, Kate and Peter do something right: They listen to the doctor and refuse to take Nicholas home.

Soon after, Nicholas is back home with his parents.

Beth has taken the baby to visit her parents, so it’s just Kate, Peter, and Nicholas again, the family unit he’s longed for but no longer has.

It should feel moving, but the film has done nothing to show it cares about Nicholas, so it’s just one of many moments to remind you that The Son is based on a play.

It’s a red flag the size of North America, but Kate and Peter are too invested in themselves, and one another, to notice.

(As a Canadian, this is the only thing that rings true in the entire film. Sorry.) Nicholas has even written a book, which he dedicates to his father.

It’s a moment that completely robs Nicholas of any agency, making it all about Peter and his experience of his son’s mental illness.

The root of the problem is that the film, like Kate and Peter, constantly neglects Nicholas.

In a particularly heated moment (judging by the context, it’s supposed to be extremely dramatic with a capital D) Peter shouts at Nicholas, “When you hurt yourself, it's as if you’re doing it to me.” Seriously.

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