The Father

Writer/director Florian Zeller brings his brilliantly written stage play, Le Père, to the screen as THE FATHER, directing a stunning cast that brings even more light to his deeply moving examination of aging and the effects on both the elderly and the family. The screenplay adaptation is by both Zeller and Christopher Hampton. ‘Nothing is as it seems.’ Having just frightened away his recent caregiver, Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), an London octogenarian gradually succumbing to dementia, feels abandoned when his concerned daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) tells him she's moving to Paris. Confused and upset, against the backdrop of a warped perspective and his rapid, heart-rending mental decline, Anthony is struggling to differentiate between his perception of reality and that of his daughter and caregivers. Now, as faded memories and glimpses of lucidity trigger sudden mood swings, dear ones, Anthony's surroundings, and even time itself become distorted. Why has his younger daughter stopped visiting (she is deceased)? Who are the strangers that burst in on Anthony (a new caregiver Laura – Imogen Poots and a nurse Catherine – Olivia Williams and Anne’s husband Paul – Rufus Sewell and Paul – Mark Gatiss)? The way in which Zeller has written this story captures the elements of elderly dementia/Alzheimer’s victims’ perception of the world: scenes are often played both in the imaginary state Anthony perceives and in the reality form. The technique works brilliantly. Anthony Hopkins brings credibility to this role, as do Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams. The ensemble works intricately well as the story weaves in and out of Anthony’s two worlds. The mood of the piece is heightened by the use of excerpts from operas by Purcell, Bellini, and Bizet, and the music of Ludovico Einaudi. A completely satisfying and insightful film! Grady Harp, May 21

This movie is excellent! I worked with Alzheimer's patients for about 10 plus years and then took care of my own parents for 7 years. Every person with alzheimer's exhibits different symptoms of the disease. This one is very good, the acting is fabulous. It was a tad confusing with all the different people, but pretty typical. I can't wait to watch it again. Sir Anthony Hopkins is just excellent in this.

I urge people to experience this incredible film that showcases a father/daughter relationship as the father descends into the horrors of Alzheimer's disease. Viewers will experience the illness first hand. The acting is sublime and Sir Anthony deservingly received the Academy Award for Best Actor.Amazing structure and editing of the film will ensnare you into a personal Alhzheimer experience that I found horrific. This remarkable film is his career best. Even Clarice would agree, the lambs have been silenced.

I love all of the actors in this movie. Anthony is one of my favorites. The movie was interesting, but not one I would watch over and over. It appears that they vision was from his part, because people and places chances all the time. The story is of a man who has dementia and how it effects his actions and that of the family cswift

Todo fue muy bien

When Anthony Hopkins was the 2021 surprise winner of the Oscar for Best Actor I knew this was a film that I had to watch. Hopkins and the entire cast are superb. Hopkins' performance is brilliant. The film screenplay and the direction are exceptional. The "But..." is because of two personal reactions. Because much of the film is revealed through the Alzheimer's view of the aging Hopkins, the viewer is never quite sure where the plot is going. This is not a criticism. It is brilliant writing and film making. But, most viewers will have to watch the film multiple times to figure out the "real" plot line. The second "But..." is that due to the nature of the story and the brilliant performance of Hopkins the movie can be a real downer. This is not a "feel good" film. Watch it often, but not when depressed. The Father is clearly one of the best films to come along in a very long time.

The directing and storytelling of this is one of the best ever. Everything you think or see may or may not be what you think. This is a movie that will touch you heart and emotions from many different levels. The movie presence of the actors are some of the best I have ever seen.. This is a movie that will stay in and with you for some time to come..

Anthony Hopkins was the "surprise" winner of the best actor Oscar for this film. If you had not read anything about this film before seeing it, it might come off as a psychological horror film. Every scene in the film may be reality--or not. It takes a while to realize that there will be no easy answer to Hopkins' personal horror; he's not trapped in a mind game by someone looking to steal his money. The "reality" is that you can't trust a single scene in this movie of being anything but a fantasy of a man in the deepest pits of dementia. Only at the very end do we encounter what may be a "truthful" scene. What makes this different from Rain Man, in which Dustin Hoffman played a man with a similarly debilitating mental condition, this movie is seen almost entirely through the Hopkins character's eyes, and we have to trust the filmmakers that this is in fact "reality" as seen through the eyes of someone suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, and it certainly would be a "horror" to a caregiver observing this if they thought that this is what someone suffering from this condition actually "see." Frankly, I somewhat doubt it, because that would mean that every waking moment is a complete fantasy inside their own minds. While this is a fascinating film, I might have liked it better if it played as a straight horror movie, because its progression rambles on and on, loses any sense of direction and eventually becomes frustrating as you wait for the "point" of all this. That it is not supposed to make any sense may be the "point" of it, but then they could have just billed this as one of those old propaganda movies from the 30s and 40s, since it comes off like an advertisement for an old folk's home to lock people like this up. Of course, if you know beforehand what this film is about, you would know what to "expect" and be more forgiving. This film I might recommend as a "must see" once, but I doubt I'd want to watch if again.