I’m of the opinion that when going to see a movie less is best in terms of what you know about the plot, spoilers in reviews are a cardinal sin. I’m going to break with tradition and include a few spoilers so if you want to know as little as possible about The Father then please don’t read any further. However if you do stop here and go into the film “ blind” confusing might be how you describe the movie after seeing it.
The Father tells the story of Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), elderly and at one time intelligent and fiercely independent his memory is now starting to give up on him causing him to have short term memory loss. Told through his eyes various characters come and go including Anne and Catherine, played by Olivia Coleman and Oliva Cooke, who are his daughters, one of them is long dead but I won’t tell you which one. Other characters flit in and out of his life including Bill (Mark Gatiss) who might or might not be Anne or Catherine’s husband.
Scenes that you think are over are suddenly replayed with different characters and with different dialogue. The purpose of all the confusion is to let the audience see the world through the eyes and mind of Anthony and it is certainly a world of confusion as we’re left to try and piece together the story from his fragmented memory.
The Father won’t be for everyone, certainly if you go in not knowing much about the movie I imagine that you’ll come out asking yourself what it was all about.
Hopkins is terrific in the lead role and rightly won this year’s best actor Oscar for his performance and if there is one reason to see the Father it’s to see an actor at the top of his game, there’s certainly nothing wrong with the mind of Anthony, Hopkins that is.