The Father – A Heartbreaking Character Drama

For our Sundance 2020 review of The Father, click here.

Ever since it’s debut at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. Florian Zeller’s The Father, based on his play of the same name, has consistently been in the awards conversation and it’s pretty easy to see why. First and foremost, Anthony Hopkins’ heartbreaking lead performance and Olivia Colman’s deep and emotionally-exhausted performance as the titular father and his daughter have been the clear standouts in the eyes of guilds and critics groups. That being said, the film is so much more than that as its script, production design, and editing along with said performances work together to create an uneasy and immersive emotional roller coaster experience. A graceful and empathetic yet grounded tale of dementia and its effect on the loved ones closest to us, the film is sure to leave a lasting impression on viewers while packing quite the punch and not wearing out its welcome within its relatively short running time of 97 minutes.

The story of The Father is more or less already out there but for those who still don’t know, the film follows Anthony (Hopkins), a stubborn old man who is adamant about living alone in his flat against the wishes of his daughter Anne (Colman) whose carers she employed were consistently rejected. As Anthony’s condition worsened, the situation became increasingly dire as she could not longer visit him daily as his grip on reality was unravelling. Told from his perspective, things were not always as clear-cut as they seemed as there was always a shadow of doubt clouding over the proceedings as viewers can’t always trust or believe what they’re seeing as the narrative was just as fractured as he was and it only got worse. Meanwhile, the film followed suit thanks to subtle changes created by the editing and production design. Nevertheless, Anthony desperately tried to hold onto as much of himself and his independence as he could as Anne tried to do the same with the father she still loved. This only made it worse for her as she had to witness what his dementia was doing to him, reconciling that with the memories of the person he was. 

As hard as it was for Anthony, it was just as hard for Anne to keep it all together. The overwhelming stress and the range of emotion from being an unwitting passenger for her father’s decline was right there on her face for all to see and wasn’t always easy to watch. She’d be treated to both sides of that coin as Anthony went from charming to downright vicious on a dime, as he subjected Anne to frustration and emotional turmoil. Along those lines, there was certainly some family history there that film could have tapped into more to further develop Anne and her relationship with Anthony but in spite of the film’s jumbled narrative, that father-daughter relationship still rang true and was compelling to watch and evolve over the course of the film. Despite what seemed to be happening, one can’t help but understand and empathize with the position of both characters. In the end, while the conclusion of that relationship was inevitable, it did not make it any less heartbreaking as viewers and the characters finally come to terms with their situation and reality slowly began to set in.

As mentioned, the best part of The Father was of course the superb and very award-worthy performances of Hopkins and Colman as Anthony and Anne respectively as well as their great chemistry. What more can be said about Hopkins? Delivering one of his finest performances, he was absolutely masterful, bringing his impeccable stage presence and showing incredible range as a man essentially losing himself to dementia. Treating him with empathy and grace, the resulting character arc tracking Anthony’s slow and gradual decline was absolutely heartbreaking to watch from the confusion, to the denial, to the eventual acceptance. Meanwhile, Colman was also up to the task and held her own alongside Hopkins while delivering a standout performance in her own right. Though Anne could have been a deeper character, her deep-seated pain and frustration was nonetheless still there as she pulled viewers into her own struggles thus creating a worthy counterbalance to Anthony’s arc. 

At the end of the day, The Father may not be an easy watch but is still an important one and one to not forget come awards season. Anthony Hopkins still has it.

*still courtesy of Elevation Pictures*

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.