Lotshis fatheras Boy They are works in which the mental health of their protagonist plays a bigger role, they are in the foreground and infect and absorb and nourish the story and the other characters that come with it.

Its structure differs from the debut of Florian Zeller, the playwright of both parts in which he worked with Christopher Hampton (dangerous relationships) to adapt it to the big screen.

And even though it says so Boy is the prequel of his fatherAndhere “skips” a generation, as the son in question is the grandson of Anthony, a character that earned him his second Oscar for best actor for Anthony Hopkins in the his father (2020).

Here the father of the son, and the son of his father -even though he’s not in the movie- is Hugh Jackman. That is Peter, a very successful lawyer, in his personal and professional life. He is tempted by a senator, who is about to run in the Nation’s presidential primary, where he has to go to Washington DC. But something ties him to New York, where he lives.

between parents and children

It is him receiving a visit from his ex-wife (Laura Dern) at the apartment where he now lives with his new and young partner (Vanessa Kirby), with whom he has a baby. Kate doesn’t bring good news: Nicholas (Zen McGrath) hasn’t been to school in the past month. In other words: he leaves his house every day on his way to school, but never enters. He found out from a phone call from the school. Nicholas asked to stay with his father.

We say that Peter has a successful life also in his personal life. He separates from his wife (Laura Dern) to be with Beth, who is upset by the arrival of his partner’s teenage son, with his troubles behind him. Suddenly she became the mother of two children, a baby and a young man who couldn’t quite put into words why he was sad.

We said that Zeller wanted to explore other dimensions of mental health. Which is very different, and not only because of the age of the protagonist, but also in The Father. If in his work The Mother the theme is depression, to close the triptych he chooses to focus on a troubled teenager who doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. “I’m not made like other people,” said Nicholas firmly. “I’m in pain all the time” he could barely get out of the inside.

He is a young man in crisis.

Anyone would say that it was a call for attention, a request for help, a silent cry to their parents. And also every spectator understands that, having noticed the mark on his arm, the result of a certain wound he inflicted on himself, something bad could happen.

If the film is indeed heartbreaking at times, there is a back and forth in its plot, not in terms of the parents’ feelings about what to do with their son, but, you name it, the self-deception of the three of them. .

Because Peter is a workaholic—like his father—he doesn’t want to repeat the neglect he himself suffered at home, by Anthony, his father. And it’s in the scene where Peter goes to visit Anthony that another central question of the film is revealed: to be or not to be, or better, to feel or not to feel like an ideal father.

can also be seen at Boy as a film about insecurities, and one in which the show’s weight – perhaps setting aside teens – is committed and emotionally mature.

“Boy”

Good

Drama. United Kingdom/France, 2022. Original title: “Boy”.123′, SAM 16. From: Florian Zeller. With: Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Zen McGrath, Vanessa Kirby. Room: Cinépolis Recoleta and Pilar, Cinemark Palermo, Hoyts Unicenter, Showcase Belgrano and Norcenter.