It has been a few days since I have seen Florian Zeller's The Father and I can't get it out of my head. And that's not because I am writing about it just now, but because of how overwhelmingly devastating, heartbreaking, and terrifying it was. This film broke me and I did not see it coming.
Adapted from Zeller's play of the same name, The Father follows Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), a man in his eighties with dementia. When we first met him, his divorced daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) visits him and informs him that she has met a man and will be moving to Paris with him, and hence will no longer be able to provide him with the care he needs, and he will likely have to go to a nursing home. Of course, he doesn't take the idea of leaving his flat very well.
In the next scene, he is wandering in the flat when he sees an unknown man (Mark Gatiss) in his living room. The man soon informs him that he is Anne's husband Paul, that he and Anne are not divorced, and that she is definitely not moving to Paris with some guy. Anthony's confusion and frustration grow even more when Anne (now played by Olivia Williams) comes home, but she doesn't look like Anne at all.
A couple of scenes later, Olivia Colman is back as Anne, Paul is now played by Rufus Sewell, and soon a new character enters the picture, a young caretaker named Laura (Imogen Poots) who reminds Anthony of his other daughter Lucy, who he hasn't talked to for months.
It soon becomes clear what Zeller is doing. Instead of taking the straightforward, and predictable route to the subject of dementia as other films do, the filmmaker approaches the subject with a non-linear narration and major characters lacking an introduction, which make it all feel as strange and confusing as it all is inside Anthony's decaying mind. Events keep repeating themselves, while the actors portraying major characters keep switching, and when we realise what is actually going on, it is beyond devastating.
The Father doesn't only provide a look on dementia from the point of view of someone with this illness, but it also shows what it is like for the loved ones surrounding him, and it does so in a brutal and yet honest way as it shows the frustration but also the hurt and love of those around him.
Zeller's film also benefits tremendously from its cast. Anthony Hopkins is mesmerizing in the role as he gives a heartbreakingly, and devastatingly beautiful performance. He delivers the confusion, the fear, the anger, and the brutal honesty of this terrifying disease in such a realistic way it is haunting. And the way he effortlessly goes from charming and funny to genuinely scary, and from man to child in a matter of seconds makes the performance even more unforgettable.
The supporting cast is just splendid, but Olivia Colman arguably gives the most impactful performance. Her portrayal of Anne is incredibly realistic as she delivers not only the pain of watching a loved one going through something like this but also the frustration of having to deal with him — and copying with the mean things he says to her —, with emotional depth.
Visually, The Father is very simple and unpretentious and yet Ben Smithard's lingering cinematography and Yorgos Lamprinos's great editing provide the film the unsettling and confusing atmosphere needed. At last, Ludovico Einaudi's score is simply outstanding — at times very atmospheric, at times very subtle, the score truly elevates the film's big moments.
Ultimately, The Father is simply an astonishing film with terrific performances that are very likely to make you shed streams of tears. A must-watch.
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