(Newser)
– French novelist and playwright Florian Zeller may be a first-time filmmaker, but he seems to have the skills of an experienced professional. Your debut film, The father—Adapted from its 2012 award-winning game of the same name – it has a 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 85 reviews. Of course, star Anthony Hopkins, playing an 80-year-old man struggling with dementia, has something to do with it. What critics are saying:
- “At the same time stupendously effective and deeply disturbing, The father may be the first dementia movie to give me the creeps, “writes Jeannette Catsoulis in New York Times. He “plays on the prospect so intelligently that it is impossible to maintain any emotional distance.” In fact, “Zeller’s relentless and subjective approach puts us in the middle of Anthony’s distorted memories”, so viewers “question where – and when – we are”.
- It is the absence of stability that makes the film “such an impressive experience” – “sensory freedom compressed into austere poetry”, writes Joe Morgenstern in Wall Street Journal. Playing “intricate mind games with the public”, Zeller offers a film that is “captivating, ruthless, terribly moving and at times very funny”, but Hopkins is “master of everything”, he adds. “The actor merges with the character in a performance that is surprising and inspiring in equal measure.”
- Hopkins performs his best in decades in this “immersive study of the character of an elderly man who struggles to rationalize his existence while losing control over the people and things around him,” writes Brian Truitt in USA today. An “amazing” Hopkins “touches every bit of the emotional spectrum and the result is as indelible a role as when Hopkins donned Hannibal’s mask and won an Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs. “
- “It’s one of the best works in Hopkins ‘long and historic career,” but Oscar winner Olivia Colman, playing Hopkins’ daughter, “is always like him,” writes Christy Lemire at RogerEbert.com. “As our guide – as much as Zeller allows – Colman is tremendous,” she writes. Lemire also applauds production designer Peter Francis and editor Yorgos Lamprinos. Lamprinos’ work here “is so complicated and, at the same time, so discreet, it is like a magic trick before our eyes”.
The film will be released in select cinemas on Friday and across the country on March 12. (Read more movie review stories).