Critics have called the prolific French writer Florian Zeller “the most exciting playwright of our times,” and his second film as writer-director confirms that he’s equally adept when it comes to cinema. Despite Anthony Hopkins’ Academy Award for Best Actor, The Father didn’t find the audience it should have (its release coincided with COVID-19). His follow-up, adapted from the play of the same name by Zeller’s regular English translator, Christopher Hampton, is as sharp, insightful, and devastating. Teenager Nicolas (Zen McGrath) is suffering from depression and has stopped going to school. It’s so bad, his mom Kate (Laura Dern) hands him over to his father, Peter (Hugh Jackman), who is celebrating a baby with his new wife, Beth (Vanessa Kirby). Perhaps a stepbrother will raise Nic’s spirits? Peter vows to do everything he can to help—but Nic descends still further.
As in The Father, Zeller uses the subjectivity of the camera to access mental spaces that seem impenetrable from the outside. There are no easy answers here, but the film’s emotional pull is direct and undeniable.
Presented by
Florian Zeller
Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Hugh Quarshie, Anthony Hopkins
UK
2022
English
Self Harm
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Late Fame
Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler (Eyes Wide Shut) this is a sly, poignant comedy about vanity and art from director Kent Jones, starring Willem Dafoe as a mailman belatedly acclaimed for a book of poetry he wrote in his youth.
Memory of Princess Mumbi
In 2093, a filmmaker arrives in the African village of Umata, where he meets Princess Mumbi, a woman torn between love, legacy, and the future of storytelling. It's a fabulous genre-blending fable about memory, invention and cinematic resistance.
Lessons of Darkness
Werner Herzog's unforgettable documentary reveals the unfolding disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames in 1991 as a sweeping inferno of mesmerizing power.
Beau Travail
Inspired by Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Claire Denis' transfixing Beau Travail is set in East Africa. Sgt Galoup (Denis Lavant) reflects on his time in the French Foreign Legion, and the impact of the handsome Sentain (Gregoire Colin).
Credits
Executive Producer
Simon Gillis, Philippe Carcassonne, Hugh Jackman, Daniel Battsek, Ollie Madden, Lauren Dark, Peter Touche, Christelle Conan, Hugo Grumbar, Tim Haslam
Producer
Joanna Laurie, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Florian Zeller, Christophe Spadone
Screenwriter
Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
Cinematography
Ben Smithard
Editor
Yorgos Lamprinos
Production Design
Simon Bowles
Original Music
Hans Zimmer