The Father
Academy Award × 2
Rent/Purchase
A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages and, as he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.
What critics thought
One of the most acclaimed films of its year, The Father puts viewers directly inside a disintegrating mind rather than observing dementia from a safe distance — a formally audacious choice that critics found genuinely disorienting and emotionally devastating. Hopkins's performance drew near-universal superlatives, with many calling it the career peak of an actor already known for iconic roles, while Florian Zeller's transition from stage to screen was seen as startlingly assured for a debut director.
“It places us in the mind of someone losing his mind—and it does so by revealing that mind to be a place of seemingly rational and coherent experience.”
Owen Gleiberman·Variety
“It's astounding, heartbreaking work, watching him try to rationally explain to himself and those around him what he's experiencing.”
Benjamin Lee·The Guardian
“The best film about the wages of aging since Amour eight years ago, The Father takes a bracingly insightful, subtle and nuanced look at encroaching dementia and the toll it takes on those in close proximity to the afflicted.”
Todd McCarthy·The Hollywood Reporter
“what appears to be a conventional-seeming portrait of an unmoored old man as he rages against his daughter and caretaker slowly reveals itself to be the brilliant study of a mind at sea, and of the indescribable pain of watching someone drown.”
David Ehrlich·IndieWire
Genres
Drama, Mystery
Cast & Crew
DirectorFlorian Zeller
StarringAnthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Olivia Williams, Imogen Poots
ComposerLudovico Einaudi
The Father
Academy Award × 2
A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages and, as he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.
What critics thought
One of the most acclaimed films of its year, The Father puts viewers directly inside a disintegrating mind rather than observing dementia from a safe distance — a formally audacious choice that critics found genuinely disorienting and emotionally devastating. Hopkins's performance drew near-universal superlatives, with many calling it the career peak of an actor already known for iconic roles, while Florian Zeller's transition from stage to screen was seen as startlingly assured for a debut director.
“It places us in the mind of someone losing his mind—and it does so by revealing that mind to be a place of seemingly rational and coherent experience.”
Owen Gleiberman·Variety
“It's astounding, heartbreaking work, watching him try to rationally explain to himself and those around him what he's experiencing.”
Benjamin Lee·The Guardian
“The best film about the wages of aging since Amour eight years ago, The Father takes a bracingly insightful, subtle and nuanced look at encroaching dementia and the toll it takes on those in close proximity to the afflicted.”
Todd McCarthy·The Hollywood Reporter
“what appears to be a conventional-seeming portrait of an unmoored old man as he rages against his daughter and caretaker slowly reveals itself to be the brilliant study of a mind at sea, and of the indescribable pain of watching someone drown.”
David Ehrlich·IndieWire
Genres
Drama, Mystery
Cast & Crew
DirectorFlorian Zeller
StarringAnthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Olivia Williams, Imogen Poots
ComposerLudovico Einaudi
Rent/Purchase